Berkeley City Council
June 21, 2022

Tuesday, June 21, 2022 AGENDA Page 1

P R O C L AM AT I O N

C AL L I N G A S P E C I AL M EE TI NG O F T HE

B E R K E LE Y CI T Y C O U N CIL
In accordance with the authority in me vested, I do hereby call the Berkeley City Council in special session as follows:

Tuesday, June 21, 2022
6:00 PM

JESSE ARREGUIN, MAYOR
Councilmembers:

DISTRICT 1 – RASHI KESARWANI DISTRICT 5 – SOPHIE HAHN
DISTRICT 2 – TERRY TAPLIN DISTRICT 6 – SUSAN WENGRAF
DISTRICT 3 – BEN BARTLETT DISTRICT 7 – RIGEL ROBINSON
DISTRICT 4 – KATE HARRISON DISTRICT 8 – LORI DROSTE
PUBLIC ADVISORY: THIS MEETING WILL BE CONDUCTED EXCLUSIVELY THROUGH

VIDEOCONFERENCE AND TELECONFERENCE
Pursuant to Government Code Section 54953(e) and the state declared emergency, this meeting of the City Council will be conducted exclusively through t eleconference and Zoom videoconference. The COVID -19 state of emergency continues to directly impact the ability of the members to meet safely in person and presents imminent risks to the health of attendees. Therefore, no physical meeting location will be available.

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This meeting will be conducted in accordance with the Brown Act, Government Code Section 54953. Any member of the public may attend this meeting. Questions regarding this matter may be addressed to Mark Numainville, City Clerk, (510) 981 -6900. The City Council may take action related to any subject listed on the Agenda. Meetings will adjourn at 11:00 p.m. - any items outstanding at that time will be carried over to a date/time to be specified.

Tuesday, June 21, 2022 AGENDA Page 2
Preliminary Matters
Roll Call:

Action Calendar
The public may comment on each item listed on the agenda for action as the item is taken up. For items moved to the Action Calendar from the Consent Calendar or Information Calendar, persons who spoke on the item during the Consent Calendar public comment period may speak again at the time the matter is taken up during the Action Calendar.

The Presiding Officer will request that persons wishing to speak use the "raise hand" function to determine the number of persons interested in speaking at that time. Up to ten (10) speakers may speak for two minutes. If there are more than ten persons interested in speaking, the Presiding Officer may limit the public comment for all speakers to one minute per speaker. Speakers are permitted to yield their time to one other speaker, however no one speaker shall have more than four minutes. The Presiding Officer may, with the consent of persons representing both sides of an issue, allocate a block of time to each side to present their issue.

Action items may be reordered at the discretion of the Chair with the consent of Council.

Action Calendar – New Business

1. Discussion and Direction Regarding Vision 2050 Program Plan and Potential Ballot Measures for the November 8, 2022 General Municipal Election From: City Manager
Recommendation: Discuss and provide input and direction to the City Manager and City Attorney on measure(s) to place on the November 8, 2022 ballot, and the Vision 2050 Program Plan.

Financial Implications: See report
Contact: Paul Buddenhagen, City Manager's Office, (510) 981-7000

Adjournment
I hereby request that the City Clerk of the City of Berkeley cause personal notice to be given to each member of the Berkeley City Council on the time and place of said meeting, forthwith.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the official seal of the City of Berkeley to be affixed on this 16th day of June 2022.

Jesse Arreguin, Mayor

Public Notice – this Proclamation serves as the official agenda for this meeting.

ATTEST:

Date: June 16, 2022
Mark Numainville, City Clerk

Tuesday, June 21, 2022 AGENDA Page 3
NOTICE CONCERNING YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS : If you object to a decision by the City Council to approve or deny a use permit or variance for a project the following requiremen ts and restrictions apply:
1) No lawsuit challenging a City decision to deny (Code Civ. Proc. §1094.6(b)) or approve (Gov. Code 65009(c)(5)) a use permit or variance may be filed more than 90 days after the date the Notice of Decision of the action of the City Council is mailed. Any lawsuit not filed within that 90 -day period will be barred. 2) In any lawsuit that may be filed against a City Council decision to approve or deny a use permit or variance, the issues and evidence will be limited to those rais ed by you or someone else, orally or in writing, at a public hearing or prior to the close of the last public hearing on the project.

Archived indexed video streams are available at:
https://berkeleyca.gov/your-government/city-council/city-council-agendas.

Channel 33 rebroadcasts the following Wednesday at 9:00 a.m. and Sunday at 9:00 a.m.

Communications to the City Council are public record and will become part of the City’s electronic records, which are accessible through the City’s website. Please note: e-mail addresses, names, addresses, and other contact information are not required, but if included in any communication to the City Council, will become part of the public record. If you do not want your e-mail address or any other contact information to be made public, you may deliver communications via U.S. Postal Service to the City Clerk Department at 2180 Milvia Street. If you do not want your contact information included in the public record, please do not include that information in your communication. Please contact the City Clerk Department for further information.

Any writings or documents provided to a majority of the City Council regarding any item on this agenda will be made available for public inspection at the public counter at the City Clerk Department located on the first floor of City Hall located at 2180 Milvia Street as well as posted on the City's website at https://berkeleyca.gov/.

Agendas and agenda reports may be accessed via the Internet at:
https://berkeleyca.gov/your-government/city-council/city-council-agendas and may be read at reference desks at the following locations:

City Clerk Department - 2180 Milvia Street, First Floor Tel: 510-981-6900, TDD: 510-981-6903, Fax: 510-981-6901 Email: [email protected]

Libraries: Main – 2090 Kittredge Street,
Claremont Branch – 2940 Benvenue, West Branch – 1125 University, North Branch – 1170 The Alameda, South Branch – 1901 Russell

COMMUNICATION ACCESS INFORMATION:

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Captioning services are provided at the meeting, on B-TV, and on the Internet.

Communications
Council rules limit action on Communications to referral to the City Manager and/or Boards and Commissions for investigation and/or recommendations. All communi cations submitted to Council are public record. Copies of individual communications are available for viewing at the City Clerk Department and through Records Online.

Item #1: Discussion and Direction Regarding Vision 2050 Program Plan and Potential Ballot Measures for the November 8, 2022 General Municipal Election

1. Parks, Recreation and Waterfront Commission

Office of the City Manager
2180 Milvia Street, Berkeley, CA 94704 ● Tel: (510) 981-7000 ● TDD: (510) 981-6903 ● Fax: (510) 981-7099 E-Mail: [email protected] Website: http://www.CityofBerkeley.info/Manager

ACTION CALENDAR
June 21, 2022
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: Dee Williams-Ridley, City Manager
Submitted by: Paul Buddenhagen, Deputy City Manager
Subject: Discussion and Direction Regarding Vision 2050 Program Plan and Potential Ballot Measures for the November 8, 2022 General Municipal Election

RECOMMENDATION
Discuss and provide input and direction to the City Manager and City Attorney on measure(s) to place on the November ballot, and the Vision 2050 Program Plan.

FISCAL IMPACTS OF RECOMMENDATION
If a revenue measure or measures are placed on the ballot and subsequently approved by voters, the City would receive additional funds from increased tax revenues.

CURRENT SITUATION AND ITS EFFECTS
On May 31, 2022, City Council received and discussed scientific survey results, and provided direction to staff to prepare two measures for the November ballot. With that direction, staff returns tonight with a draft resolution for the General Obligation (GO) bond, draft ordinance for the parcel tax, and additional information on specific issues raised in the City Council meeting.

Ordinance and Resolution. Attachments 1 and 2 are a draft resolution for the GO bond and draft ordinance for the parcel tax. The GO bond includes a reference to being guided by the Vision 2050 Program Plan, oversight, annual independent audits, and an advisory commitment of non-revenue measure funding to ensure current levels of General Fund support are not supplanted by revenue measure funding.

The parcel tax on paving, sidewalks, and traffic safety includes a 14-year duration, focus on green and sustainable streetscapes, advisory commitment of revenues to maintain a minimum level of funding for street maintenance, exemption for very low- income homeowners, possibilities for a split roll tax and application of the tax to commercial parking structures and surface lots,1 a reference to City plans and policies 1 General Obligation bonds already apply to parcels with commercial parking structures. The attached parcel tax differs from past adopted parcel taxes in that it proposes a method to charge previously exempt parcels used exclusively for commercial parking facilities. City staff do not currently have an inventory of these parcels so implementation may pose a challenge.

01 Special Meeting Item

Discuss and Direction regarding Vision 2050 Program Plan and Revenue Measure(s) ACTION CALENDAR June 21, 2022

to guide implementation (including Vision 2050), oversight by respective Commissions, and annual independent audits.

Specific Issues. City Council requested more information on the following subjects:

Split roll tax and parcels used exclusively for commercial parking The parcel tax can be charged a rate of 30 cents per building square feet for all parcels, raising $28M. This is the measure tested in the April 2022 scientific survey. Or the parcel tax can charge different tax rates to residential parcels, commercial parcels, and parcels used exclusively for commercial parking.

The majority of the City’s parcel taxes charge a single rate per square foot. There are two parcel taxes—Library Tax and Measure GG—with a split tax rate for residential and non-residential square footages. The tax rate ratio is roughly 3:2 non-residential to residential. To raise $25M annually using a single rate would result in a 30 cent per square foot tax. To raise the same amount with the split rate would result in $0.26787 and $0.40504 per residential and non-residential square feet, respectively. The split tax would result in the following: a decrease to the average annual residential parcel tax from $570 to $509, a $1,100 increase to the average annual commercial parcel tax to $4,244, and a $471 increase to the median commercial parcel to $1,814.

Staff are still researching the options for a rate to charge to parcels used exclusively for commercial parking, and will bring options to the City Council meeting.

Definition for streets and traffic safety investments
Below is a possible distribution of the $25M annually that could be raised from a streets, sidewalks, and traffic safety parcel tax. The distribution is consistent with the Vision 2050 Program Plan’s priorities and would significantly advance the City’s adopted plans and policies. As a parcel tax, the distributions would be able to fund both capital projects and maintenance. This distribution could provide $16.5M annually (or 66%) to paving, $7.5M (or 30%) to traffic safety (i.e., implementing bike and pedestrian plans), and $1M (or 4%) to sidewalk repairs.

Table 1: Possible Investments from Parcel Tax Proceeds
Paving Traffic Safety Sidewalks
2023 $16.5M $7.5M $1M
2024 $16.5M $7.5M $1M
2025 $16.5M $7.5M $1M
2026 $16.5M $7.5M $1M
2027 $16.5M $7.5M $1M
2028 $16.5M $7.5M $1M
2029 $16.5M $7.5M $1M
2030 $16.5M $7.5M $1M
2031 $16.5M $7.5M $1M

Discuss and Direction regarding Vision 2050 Program Plan and Revenue Measure(s) ACTION CALENDAR June 21, 2022

2032 $16.5M $7.5M $1M
2033 $16.5M $7.5M $1M
2034 $16.5M $7.5M $1M
2035 $16.5M $7.5M $1M
2036 $16.5M $7.5M $1M
Total $231M (66%) $105M (30%) $14M (4%)
With this approach, the City’s Pavement Condition Index (PCI) would improve from its current at-risk condition of 55 to good condition of 75 by 2036. This would be a significant improvement and advance voters’ top infrastructure priority. It would also enable implementation of the City’s existing pedestrian and bicycle plans, and eliminate the existing sidewalk repair backlog, all of which are important voter priorities.

This approach would pave 97% of street mileage across the City. The few unpaved streets that remain would not be concentrated in any particular Council District, and between now and 2037, staff and City Council could make it a priority to find additional funding to address these streets.

It is important to note that these PCI projections assume $15M in annual, non-revenue measure contributions to annual paving. Given the City currently funds $7M in annual paving funding, the remainder of approximately $8M would have to come from non- revenue measure sources. Below this $8M is referred to as “$8M in gap funding.” The City Manager’s draft proposed budget from May 31, 2022 addresses the $8M funding gap. FY 2023’s proposed budget includes an additional $5M for street maintenance, leaving a smaller $3M gap. FY 2024 includes an additional $9.1M, more than closing the gap.

In addition, City Council requested analysis of a smaller 15 cent per square foot parcel tax. Such a tax would generate about $12.5M annually, and assuming a similar distribution as the 30 cent tax, would generate $8.26M annually for paving.

Table 1 below shows four different paving scenarios:
 Scenario 1 (purple) assumes the 30 cent per square foot parcel tax is voter approved, and future budgets solve the $8M in gap funding.  Scenario 2 (orange) assumes a smaller 15 cent parcel tax is voter approved, and future budgets solve the $8M in gap funding.
 Scenario 3 (green) assumes the 30 cent parcel tax is voter approved, but future budgets do not solve the $8M in gap funding.
 Scenario 4 (blue) assumes a 15 cent parcel tax is voter approved, but future budgets do not solve the $8M in gap funding.

Discuss and Direction regarding Vision 2050 Program Plan and Revenue Measure(s) ACTION CALENDAR June 21, 2022

If a parcel tax is not approved by voters and the $8M gap in funding is not solved, the condition of Berkeley’s streets will deteriorate further. The City’s streets would drop to poor condition by 2027 (PCI of 49) and worsen to a PCI of 40 by 2036.

More definition on resilient and other public infrastructure improvements The $300M GO bond would afford $150M for affordable housing and $150M for infrastructure. This $150M for infrastructure investment is offset by more than $1 billion in infrastructure needs. A possible approach to spending of this investment is described below and is consistent with the priority scoring from the Vision 2050 Program Plan (at Table 3 on page 28), which incorporates public input, resiliency, and sustainability:
 $90M for climate change, wildfire protection, and resiliency o $40M to underground approximately 5 miles of evacuation routes to help enable emergency responders’ ingress and evacuating residents’ egress in the event of a wildfire, earthquake, or other disaster (cost is approximately $7 million per mile)
o $10M for sea level rise projects (at the Waterfront)
o $40M for storm drain, green infrastructure, and Aquatic Park improvements which would replace aging infrastructure, prevent pollution from reaching the Bay, and improve the City’s resiliency from climate- infused storms
 $60M to contribute to other public infrastructure projects, such as the public realm projects (or other improvements) at the Civic Center and Waterfront, new projects such as the San Pablo Park Pool, or other park and building projects.

Table 1: Paving Scenarios

Discuss and Direction regarding Vision 2050 Program Plan and Revenue Measure(s) ACTION CALENDAR June 21, 2022

30 Year Plan and Project Selection
The Vision 2050 Program Plan provides a 30-year roadmap for the City’s infrastructure.

Given the length of this planning period, a revaluation of the Program Plan every five years is recommended. These revenue measures provide a significant funding boost, as show in the light blue bar below: $150M in infrastructure funding from the GO bond and $350M from the parcel tax measure ($25M x 14 years). By 2037, the City would be in position to consider another measure or measures as reflected in the dark blue bar below. Taken together, these measures, along with other infrastructure funding listed below, set the course for resilient and sustainable infrastructure by 2050.

The process for selecting projects for the 2022 revenue measures is laid out on the Program Plan’s page 29, Figure 10: Project Approval Process (excerpted below). It is equivalent to the process used in City Council’s unanimous approval of Measure T1, Phase 2 projects.

Figure 1:

Discuss and Direction regarding Vision 2050 Program Plan and Revenue Measure(s) ACTION CALENDAR June 21, 2022

Next steps. After gaining City Council’s input and direction tonight, staff are prepared to return to City Council on July 12 with actions to place measures on the ballot, unless otherwise directed by City Council. In addition, staff will return either on July 12 or 26 with a revised Vision 2050 Program Plan to incorporate tonight’s final direction.

BACKGROUND
On April 27, 2021, City Council approved a referral to the City Manager to “explore various options for a future city bond measure in November 2022 to support the growing need for infrastructure investment, including street repaving, Complete Streets infrastructure that promotes bike and pedestrian safety, restoration of public buildings and facilities, and affordable housing citywide.” On June 30, 2021, City Council adopted a budget that included Vision 2050 implementation and exploration of revenue measures for the November 2022 ballot.

In partnership with outstanding Vision 2050 volunteers, staff have completed meetings with 25+ City Commissions and community organizations; conducted a scientific survey on infrastructure priorities in October 2021; updated City Council on progress on November 16, 2021;2 updated and gained City Council’s direction at the January 20, 2022 work session;3 sent an informational brochure to all Berkeley residents inviting them to one of four large area public meetings; held those public meetings on March 30, April 6, April 13, and April 20; conducted this project’s 2nd scientific survey of Berkeley voters in late April; reported to City Council on the City’s bond capacity on April 26, 2022;4 drafted a Program Plan and incorporated public comments received between May 2 and May 12, 2022; submitted to City Council a Strategic Asset Management Plan and Asset Management Policy on May 10, 2022;5 and issued off agenda memos6 on October 4, 2021, December 13, 2021, March 28, 2022, and May 3, 2022.

ALTERNATIVES CONSIDERED
City Council could direct staff to develop differently sized funding mechanisms or priorities, or choose to delay this decision to a future ballot.

ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY AND CLIMATE IMPACTS
Implementing Vision 2050 would result in more resilient public infrastructure that creates fewer greenhouse gases, and reduces conflict between our built and natural 2https://records.cityofberkeley.info/PublicAccess/api/Document/AdG61weWildAPhLXK5fpdWtst1f97yF2H RTRBZo4KWAcwbaDsmEVrPuMZbJ0saMj1yOQehYuhcR1QqgYN5qYWÉU%3D/ 3 https://berkeleyca.gov/city-council-special-ws-meeting-eagenda-january-20-2022 4 https://berkeleyca.gov/sites/default/files/2022-04/2022-04- 26%20Special%20Item%2002%20Accept%20the%20Risk%20Analysis%20for%20Long- Term%20Debt.pdf
5 https://berkeleyca.gov/sites/default/files/2022-04/2022-05- 10%20Item%2031%20Vision%202050%20Strategic%20Asset.pdf
6 https://berkeleyca.gov/your-government/city-council/agenda-memos

Discuss and Direction regarding Vision 2050 Program Plan and Revenue Measure(s) ACTION CALENDAR June 21, 2022

environment. More affordable housing in Berkeley would reduce greenhouse gas emissions caused by employees finding lower cost housing farther away from employment centers and requiring longer commutes.

CONTACT PERSON
Paul Buddenhagen, Deputy City Manager, (510) 981-7000
Liam Garland, Director, Public Works, (510) 981- 6300
Attachments:
1: [Draft] General Obligation Bond Resolution
2: [Draft] Parcel Tax Ordinance
3: [Draft and unrevised] Vision 2050 Infrastructure Program Plan

RESOLUTION NO. – N.S.

AUTHORIZING THE CITY OF BERKELEY TO INCUR BONDED DEBT AND ISSUE A

GENERAL OBLIGATION BOND FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING, CLIMATE CHANGE

RESILIENCY, WILDFIRE PROTECTION, AND OTHER PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE

IMPROVEMENTS
WHEREAS, the accelerating impacts of climate change and growing need for affordable housing create new challenges for safety, resiliency, and sustainability within the City; and
WHEREAS, the City has identified over $1 billion in infrastructure needs, including to reduce the City’s environmental footprint, adapt to climate change, reduce the risk of flooding and wildfires, better withstand the consequences of flooding and fires when they do occur; make the City’s public spaces more attractive, vibrant, and green; and otherwise improve the City’s infrastructure and make it more sustainable and resilient; and WHEREAS, the Vision 2050 Framework and Program Plan are long-term plans to build, upgrade and repair Berkeley’s aging infrastructure to be more sustainable and resilient in order to meet the serious challenges of the future, including climate change; and WHEREAS, the City Council has committed to ensuring adequate maintenance funding from existing sources for infrastructure improvements resulting from this bond and not supplanting existing City infrastructure funding with bond proceeds; and WHEREAS, a regional housing needs assessment showed the City needed an additional 3,854 affordable housing units, a crisis affecting the unhoused, low-income and working families and individuals, including, but not limited to, teachers, seniors, veterans, the homeless, students, people with disabilities, and other vulnerable populations; and WHEREAS, the City intends to issue general obligation bonds to finance the acquisition and improvement of real property for affordable housing (“Affordable Housing Improvements”), including the application of bond proceeds by the City directly, or indirectly through third parties as loans, grants, or other disbursements to qualified individuals, not-for-profit entities acting alone or together with tax credit investors, not-for- profit corporations, partnerships, associations, and government agencies, to acquire real property for the purpose of constructing, rehabilitating or preserving affordable housing, or to construct, rehabilitate or preserve affordable housing; including but not limited to supportive housing, nonprofit rental housing, and limited-equity housing cooperatives affiliated with community land trusts, to reimburse City funds for the prior acquisition and improvement of property to be used for affordable housing; WHEREAS, the City’s public infrastructure and facilities (“Infrastructure Improvements”), including the City’s storm drains; above or on ground utilities, especially that can be undergrounded; green infrastructure; retaining walls; park, recreation, and senior facilities; parks, natural areas, waterfront, marina, and other open space; public buildings;

and other public infrastructure are in need of significant repair, renovation, replacement, or reconstruction so that the public can continue to benefit from them and they become more resilient and sustainable; and
WHEREAS, the size and scale of local infrastructure need and affordable housing need show the challenge ahead despite the proactive steps taken to address these issues over the last decade; and
WHEREAS, existing funds and funding sources are inadequate for these infrastructure and affordable housing needs; and
WHEREAS, funding from this bond should be guided by the City’s adopted plans and policies, including the Vision 2050 Framework and Program Plan; and WHEREAS, funding from this bond should be attentive to creating attractive, green spaces that invite walking and biking, and support community gathering; and WHEREAS, fiscal accountability protections including public disclosure of all spending, annual audits and independent oversight help ensure funds will be spent as promised; and
WHEREAS, by law, all funds must remain under local control in Berkeley and cannot be taken away by the State, the County or used for other purposes; and WHEREAS, the City may have the opportunity to leverage state and county funds allocated for these affordable housing and infrastructure needs if it issues bonds to address these needs; and
WHEREAS, this resolution is adopted pursuant to and in conformance with Chapter 7.64 of the Berkeley Municipal Code; and
WHEREAS, the City Council has therefore determined that the public interest requires additional funding for the Improvements.

NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the People of the City of Berkeley that the public interest requires the issuance of a general obligation bond in the amount of $300,000,000 to fund the Improvements.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED by the People of the City of Berkeley that:

A. Proceeds of bonded indebtedness shall be used to fund the Improvements. In addition, 1.75% of the gross estimated constructions costs of projects funded by bond proceeds shall be available for functional art integrated into infrastructure Improvements that are paid for by bond proceeds, as provided in Berkeley Municipal Code Chapter 6.13.

B. The Affordable Housing Improvements (as defined above) will be completed as needed, and each is assumed to include its share of costs, including planning, program management and construction costs. The final cost of each Improvement will be

determined as real property is purchased, plans are finalized, construction bids are awarded, or projects are completed. In addition, certain acquisition or improvement funds are expected from non-bond sources, including funds which have not yet been secured.

Therefore, the City Council cannot guarantee that the Bonds will provide sufficient funds to allow completion of all needed improvements.

C. For the Affordable Housing Improvements, proceeds of the Bonds shall be used to finance the acquisition and improvement of real property for affordable housing, including the application of bond proceeds for the City directly, or indirectly through third parties as loans, grants, or other disbursements to qualified individuals, not-for-profit entities acting alone or together with tax credit investors, not-for-profit corporations, partnerships, associations and government agencies, to acquire real property for the purpose of constructing, rehabilitating or preserving affordable housing, or to construct, rehabilitate or preserve affordable housing; including but not limited to supportive housing, nonprofit rental housing, and limited-equity housing cooperatives affiliated with community land trusts, to reimburse City funds for the prior acquisition and improvement of property to be used for affordable housing.

D. Proceeds of the Bonds may be used to reimburse the City for amounts advanced from the general fund or other funds or accounts to acquire real property for Affordable Housing Improvements, when such purchases are made prior to the availability of Bond proceeds.

E. As part of the process to adopt a budget, the City Manager shall provide to the City Council a comprehensive report of funds received pursuant from any bonded indebtedness authorized by this resolution.

F. The following commissions or their successors shall provide oversight by reporting to the City Council on an annual basis regarding projects funded by the bond and bond expenditures, whether those bond expenditures are consistent with the purposes of the bond, and recommendations on projects proposed to be funded by the bond and bond expenditures:

1. The Parks, Recreation, and Waterfront Commission shall provide oversight on Infrastructure Improvements related to properties and facilities identified in Municipal Code Section 3.26.040.A, including all parks, recreation, and waterfront improvements.

2. The Transportation and Infrastructure Commission shall provide oversight on the Infrastructure Improvements related to transportation and other public infrastructure.

3. The Housing Advisory Commission shall provide oversight on the Affordable Housing Improvements.

G. All expenditures will be subject to an annual independent financial audit to confirm that Bond expenditures are consistent with the intent of this measure.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED the People of the City of Berkeley that:

A. The estimated cost of the Affordable Housing Improvements to be funded by any bonds issued pursuant to this measure is $150,000,0000, and the estimated cost for the Infrastructure Improvements is an additional $150,000,000.

B. The amount of the principal of the general obligation indebtedness (the "Bonds") to be incurred shall not exceed $300,000,000.

C. The estimated cost may include legal and other fees and the cost of printing the Bonds and other costs and expenses incidental to or connected with the issuance and sale of the Bonds.

D. The proceeds of the Bonds authorized to be issued by this resolution shall be used to finance construction of the Improvements and functional art integrated into the Improvements, to pay any fees and costs in connection with the issuance of the Bonds, including but not limited to, legal fees and bond printing costs.

E. The maximum rate of interest to be paid on the Bonds shall not exceed twelve percent (12%).

1 ORDINANCE NO. #,###-N.S.

IMPOSING A SPECIAL TAX TO FUND STREET REPAIRS,

SIDEWALK REPAIRS, AND TRAFFIC SAFETY IMPROVEMENTS
The people of the City of Berkeley do ordain as follow:

Section 1. Findings and declarations.

The People of the City of Berkeley find and declare as follows:

A. Much of Berkeley’s public infrastructure was built over 75 years ago and is in need of repair.

B. The City has identified $248 million in deferred street repairs and Berkeley’s pavement is currently in an “at risk” condition as identified by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission. Failure to make timely street repairs only leads to costlier repairs later.

C. The City has identified an additional $122 million in unfunded traffic safety improvements from adopted plans, including improvements to help keep pedestrians, bicyclists, transit users, and drivers safe and eliminate the deaths or serious injuries associated with the City’s transportation network.

D. The Vision 2050 Framework and Program Plan are long-term plans to build, upgrade and repair Berkeley’s aging infrastructure to be more sustainable and resilient in order to meet the serious challenges of the future.

E. The Vision 2050 Framework and Program Plan focus on building safe, attractive, green, and sustainable streets; improved streetscapes including maintenance, rehabilitation and resurfacing of failed streets; improvements for pedestrian, bicycle, and transit users; and streetscape/landscape improvements associated with paving projects and unassociated with paving projects.

F. The City Council has committed to providing sufficient annual funding of street maintenance from the General Fund and revenue sources other than this special tax so that the improved pavement condition resulting from this special tax is maintained.

G. A stable and consistent source of funding for street repairs and traffic safety is needed, and the City’s adopted plans and policies, including the Vision 2050 Program Plan; pavement management system; and adopted transportation, bicycle, and pedestrian plans and will guide how special tax funds are spent.

H. A special parcel tax within the City provides an equitable mechanism for funding capital investments and ongoing maintenance of streets, sidewalks, bike and pedestrian infrastructure, transit infrastructure, streetscapes and landscapes, and traffic safety features.

2 I. An exemption from the tax for low-income homeowners will help ensure the cost of the measure is not a burden for residents on fixed or limited incomes.

J. Fiscal accountability protections including public disclosure of all spending, annual audits and independent oversight help ensure funds will be spent as promised.

K. By law, all funds must remain under local control in Berkeley and cannot be taken away by the State, the County or used for other purposes.

L. The City Council has therefore determined that the public interest requires additional funding for the Improvements.

Section 2. Code Amendment. A new Chapter 7.86 is hereby added to the Berkeley Municipal Code to read as follows:

3 Chapter 7.86
Street Repair and Traffic Safety Tax

7.86.010 Special Tax.

7.86.020 Tax Authorized – Tax rate – Adjustments for Inflation.

7.86.030 Definitions.

7.86.040 Exemptions.

7.86.050 Duties and Authority of the City Manager.

7.86.060 Collection with Property Tax – Penalties and Interest.

7.86.070 Collection.

7.86.080 Refunds.

7.86.090 Savings clause – Severability.

7.86.100 Violation – Penalty.

7.86.110 Oversight.

7.86.010 Special Tax.

A. A special tax for the purpose of funding street repairs, sidewalk repairs, and traffic safety, including, but not limited to, maintaining and upgrading the City’s streets, sidewalks, and traffic safety features is hereby authorized to be imposed on all parcels of real property in the City of Berkeley containing improvements or commercial parking facilities as more fully set forth in this Chapter.

B. The City Council may impose the tax authorized by this Chapter at the rate and subject to the inflation adjustments, set forth in Section 7.86.020.

C. This special tax is imposed under Article XIIIA, Section 4, of the California Constitution and the City’s constitutional authority as a charter city under Article XI, Section 5 of the California Constitution.

D. The proceeds of the tax imposed by this Chapter shall be placed in a special fund to be used only for the purpose of maintaining, upgrading, and improving streets, sidewalks, streetscapes, and traffic safety features by funding the following:

1. Paving, sidewalk, street, streetscape, and associated landscape maintenance and improvements;

2. Installation, upgrade, and maintenance of traffic safety features, including those improving the safety of and ease of use of pedestrians, bicyclists, transit, and other street users.

7.86.020 Tax Authorized – Tax rate – Adjustments for Inflation A. The City Council is hereby authorized to impose a special tax annually as follows:

1. For parcels with dwelling units, the tax shall be imposed at the rate of $______ per square foot of improvements.

4 2. For parcels used exclusively for commercial parking facilities, the tax shall be imposed at the rate of $______ per parcel.

3. For all other parcels with improvements, the tax shall be imposed at the rate of $______ per square foot of improvements.

B. Annually in May, the City Council may increase the previous year’s tax by up to the greater of the cost of living in the immediate San Francisco Bay Area or per capita personal income growth in the state, as verified by official United States Bureau of Labor statistics. If either index referred to above is discontinued, the City shall use any successor index specified by the applicable agency, or if there is none, the most similar existing index then in existence.

7.86.030 Definitions.

For purposes of this chapter, the following terms shall be defined as set forth below:

A. “Building” shall mean any structure having a roof supported by columns or by walls and designed for the shelter or housing of any person, chattel or property of any kind.

The word “building” includes the word “structure.”
B. “Improvements” shall mean all buildings or structures erected or affixed to the land.

C. “Square footage” shall mean the total gross horizontal areas of all floors, including usable basement and cellars, below the roof and within the outer surface of the main walls of buildings (or the center lines of party walls separating such buildings or portions thereof) or within lines drawn parallel to and two feet within the roof line of any building or portion thereof without walls (which includes, notwithstanding paragraph 3 below, the square footage of all porches), and including pedestrian access walkways or corridors, but excluding the following:

1. Areas used for off-street parking spaces or loading berths and driveways and maneuvering aisles relating thereto.

2. Areas which are outdoor or semi-outdoor areas included as part of the building to provide a pleasant and healthful environment for the occupants thereof and the neighborhood in which the building is located. This exempted area is limited to stoops, balconies and to natural ground areas, terraces, pools, and patios which are landscaped and developed for active or passive recreational use, and which are accessible for use by occupants of the building.

3. Arcades, porticoes, and similar open areas which are located at or near street level, which are accessible to the general public, and which are not designed or used as sales, display storage, service, or production areas.

D. “Structure” shall mean anything constructed or erected, the use of which requires location on the ground or attachment to something having location on the ground.

5 E. “Parcel” shall mean a unit of real estate in one ownership as shown on the most current official assessment roll of the Alameda County Assessor.

F. “Commercial parking facility” shall mean:

1. Any outdoor space or uncovered plot, place, lot, parcel, yard or enclosure, or any portion thereof, where motor vehicles may be parked, stored, housed or kept, for which any charge is made or permit is granted; or

2. Any building or structure, or any portion thereof in which motor vehicles may be parked, stored, housed or kept, for which any charge is made or permit is granted.

7.86.040 Exemptions.

A. The tax imposed by this Chapter shall not apply to parcels and improvements exempt from taxation by the City pursuant to the laws or constitutions of the United States and the State of California.

B. The tax imposed by this Chapter shall not apply to any property owned by any person whose total personal income, from all sources, for the previous calendar year, does not exceed that level which shall constitute "very low-income," as may be established by resolution of the City Council. Any taxpayer claiming the exemption under this section shall be required to demonstrate their entitlement thereto annually by submitting an application and supporting documentation to the City Manager or their designee in the manner and at the time established in regulations and/or guidelines hereafter promulgated by the City Manager subject to review by the City Council in its discretion. Such applications shall be on forms provided by the City Manager, or their designee, and shall provide and/or be accompanied by such information as the City Manager shall require, including but not limited to, federal income tax returns and W-2 forms.

C. Any person or entity claiming an exemption from the tax imposed by this Chapter shall file a verified statement of exemption on a form prescribed by the City Manager prior to June 30th of the first fiscal year for which the exemption is sought

7.86.050 Duties and Authority of the City Manager.

It shall be the duty of the City Manager to collect and receive all taxes imposed by this Chapter and to keep an accurate record thereof. The City Manager is charged with the enforcement of this Chapter, except as otherwise provided herein, and may prescribe, adopt, and enforce rules and regulations relating to the administration and enforcement of this chapter, including provisions for the re-examination and correction of returns and payments.

7.86.060 Collection with Property Tax – Penalties and Interest.

The special tax imposed by this Chapter shall be due in the same manner, on the same dates, and subject to the same penalties and interest as established by law for other charges and taxes fixed and collected by the County of Alameda on behalf of

6 the City of Berkeley. The special tax imposed by this Chapter, together with all penalties and interest thereon, shall constitute a lien upon the parcel upon which it is levied until it has been paid, and shall constitute a personal obligation of the owners of the parcel on the date the tax is due.

7.86.070 Collection.

The amount of any tax, penalty, or interest imposed under the provisions of this chapter shall be deemed a debt to the City. Any person owing money under the provisions of this chapter shall be liable to an action brought in the name of the City for the recovery of such amount. The City shall be entitled to reasonable attorneys’ fees and its costs of suit in any such action.

7.86.080 Refunds.

Whenever the amount of any tax, penalty, or interest has been paid more than once or has been erroneously or illegally collected or received by the City under this chapter, it may be refunded as provided in Chapter 7.20 of the Berkeley Municipal Code or any such successor chapter.

7.86.090 Savings clause – Severability.

The provisions of this chapter shall not apply to any person, association, corporation, entity, or property as to whom or which it is beyond the power of the City of Berkeley to impose the tax herein provided. If any sentence, clause, section, or part of this chapter, or any tax against any individual or any of the several groups specified herein is found to be unconstitutional, illegal, or invalid, such sentence, clause, section or part shall be severable and such unconstitutionality, illegality, or invalidity shall affect only such clause, sentence, section, or part of this chapter and shall not affect or impair any of the remaining provisions, sentences, clauses, sections, or other parts of this chapter. It is hereby declared to be the intention of the City Council and the People of the City of Berkeley that this chapter would have been adopted had such unconstitutional, illegal, or invalid sentence, clause, section, or part thereof not been included herein.

7.86.100 Violation – Penalty.

Any person who fails to perform any duty or obligation imposed by this chapter shall be guilty of an infraction as set forth in Chapter 1.20 of the Berkeley Municipal Code.

The penalties provided in this section are in addition to the several remedies provided in this chapter.

7.86.110 Oversight.

A. The Transportation and Infrastructure Commission, or its successor, shall function as the oversight committee for this tax. For this purpose, and in addition to its other powers, the Commission may:

1. Receive and review expenditure plans for tax proceeds to ensure consistency with this special tax’s purpose;

2. Make recommendations to the City Council on how tax proceeds should be spent; and

3. Obtain reports on actual expenditures.

7 B. The City Manager shall cooperate with the Commission in its oversight capacity.

C. Tax proceeds may be eligible for the public art requirements of Chapter 6.13, as it later may be amended by the City Council.

D. The City Manager shall ensure annual independent audits to ensure funds are spent consistent with the purposes of the measure; and shall report to the City Council regarding the amount of funds collected and expended, and the status of any project funded pursuant to this Chapter.

Section 3. Increase appropriations limit. Pursuant to California Constitution Article XIIIB, the appropriation limit for the City of Berkeley is hereby increased by the aggregate sum authorized to be levied by this special tax for each of the four fiscal years from 2023 through 2026.

Section 4. Duration and Renewal of Tax. The tax imposed by this Chapter shall be operative from January 1, 2023 through December 31, 2036 unless reauthorized or extended by the voters.

Section 5. Amendment, repeal, and reenactment. The City Council may repeal this ordinance, or amend it in any manner that does not result in an increase in the tax imposed herein, or add or modify exemptions, without further voter approval. If the City Council repeals this ordinance, it may subsequently reenact it without voter approval, as long as the reenacted ordinance does not result in an increase in the tax imposed herein.

Section 6. California Environmental Quality Act Requirements. This Ordinance is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act, Public Resources Code section 21000 et seq., under, including without limitation, Public Resources Code section 21065 and CEQA Guidelines sections 15378(b)(4) and 15061(b)(3), as it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity authorized herein may have a significant effect on the environment and pursuant to Public Resources Code section 21080, subdivision (b)(8), and CEQA Guidelines section 15273 as the approval of government revenues to fund existing services.

Section 7. Special Tax; Two Thirds Vote Requirement. This Ordinance imposes a special tax for restricted general revenue purposes and shall be effective only if approved by two-thirds of the voters voting thereon.

1 Vision 2050 Program Plan - DRAFT
MAY 2022
VISION 2050

PROGRAM PLAN
DRAFT

2 May 2022

INFRASTRUCTURE PROGRAM PLAN

TABLE OF CONTENTS
01 02
03 04
05 06
07 THE INFRASTRUCTURE PROGRAM PLAN: OVERVIEW 4

1.1 The Vision 2050 Initiative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

1.2 What is an Infrastructure Program Plan? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

1.3 Core Values and Principles Guide our Planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 INF
RASTRUCTURE NEEDS AND COMMUNITY PRIORITIES 10

2.1 In
frastructure Needs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

2.2 Com
munity Input and Priorities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 INT
RODUCING THE 30-YEAR PROGRAM PLAN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

3.1 Ou
tcomes of the Program Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

3.2 Work Prioritization and Phasing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 THE P
LAN’S FUNDING, RESULTS, AND TAX IMPACT 30

4.1 Fu
nding Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

4.2 Funding Alternatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

4.3 Review of Tax Implications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

4.4 Other Benefits of Infrastructure Spending . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 PRO
GRAM DELIVERY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

5.1 Cu
rrent Organization and Measure T1 Implementation 39

5.2 R
esearch on Other Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

5.3 Rec
ommendations for Vision 2050 Implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 SUPPO
RTING STRATEGIES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

6.1 Pe
rformance Indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

6.2 Equity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

6. 3 Reporting and Oversight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

6.4 Lifecycle Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

6.5 General Fund Support for Infrastructure Maintenance 48 AP
PENDICES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Ap
pendix A: Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Appe
ndix B: Glossary of Terms and Abbreviations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 App
endix C: Reference Documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

3 Vision 2050 Program Plan - DRAFT
Table 1: Updated Infrastructure Funding Needs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Ta
ble 2: Prioritization Score Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Tab
le 3: Summary of Priority Scoring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Tabl
e 4: Funding Mechanisms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Tabl
e 5: Existing Debt Service and Tax Impact . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Tab
le 6: Debt Service Comparison . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Tab
le 7: Summary of Tax Impacts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Tabl
e 8: Cities Interviewed and Their Capital Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Tab
le 9: Vision 2050 Key Program Performance Indicators 45 Fi
gure 1: Street Corner View from Vision 2050 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Fig
ure 2: Vision 2050 Principles, Strategies and Recommended Actions 6,8 Fi
gure 3: Timeline for Vision 2050 initiative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Fig
ure 4: Example Infrastructure Needs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Fig
ure 5: Vision 2050 Core Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Fig
ure 6: Infrastructure Funding Needs by Vision 2050 Outcome Objective 13 Fi
gure 7: Outcomes of the Program Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Fig
ure 8: Vision 2050 Streets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Fig
ure 9: Marina Community Vision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Figu
re 10: Project Approval Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Fig
ure 11: Vision 2050 Funding Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Fig
ure 12: Historical & Projected Property Tax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Fig
ure 13: Public Art in Berkeley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Tables
Figures

4 May 2022
01 THE INFRASTRUCTURE
PROGRAM PLAN: OVERVIEW
This section provides an overview of the Vision 2050 Initiative and describes the Program Plan.

5 Vision 2050 Program Plan - DRAFT

1.1 The Vision 2050 Initiative
The Vision 2050 initiative was introduced by Mayor
Arreguin at his 2017 State of the City address. He
described a complex network of pipes, streets,
utility wires, bikeways, and transportation systems
that are old and have suffered from historic
disinvestment, neglect, and poor maintenance. As
our infrastructure ages, we need a plan to make
sure our systems are resilient to handle a growing
population and climate change, including sea-level
rise, more flooding, and wildfires. As technological
innovations emerge and the condition of our
infrastructure declines, we have an enormous and
exciting opportunity to reimagine our streets and
public spaces. This initiative is about building a
future for Berkeley that provides essential services
for future generations.

In November 2018, Berkeley voters approved
Measure R. The Measure asked: “Shall the measure,
advising the Mayor to engage citizens and experts
in the development of Vision 2050, a 30-year plan
to identify and guide implementation of climate-
smart, technologically-advanced, integrated and
efficient infrastructure to support a safe, vibrant
and resilient future for Berkeley, be adopted?” The
response was a resounding yes.

A 40-member residents’ task force was formed and
the team analyzed quality of life, environmental
and technology trends, and funding issues. To help
keep focus on the future, the team imagined being
on a street corner in Berkeley in the year 2050.

What will Berkeley be like then? Figure 1 shows a
street corner view from 2050.

The task force worked diligently for 18 months
and developed the principles, strategies and
recommended actions shown on Figure 2.

Community engagement was at the center of
Vision 2050. Outreach began early in 2018 with
four information nights across Berkeley. Outreach
continued in an effort to reach people where they
already congregate, including neighborhood and
faith-based groups and community organizations.

From September 2018 to July 2019, the
Mayor’s Office presented at thirteen community
organization meetings in conversations that ranged
from a handful to one hundred people. Community
feedback was used to develop the principles,
strategies, and recommended actions.

Figure 1: Street Corner View from Vision 2050 report

6 May 2022

PRINCIPLES, STRATEGIES

AND RECOMMENDED ACTIONS
STATEGY ONE Use Integrated and Balanced Planning
Use multi-criteria decision-making
Use adaptive planning
Institute structured master planning
Develop an Asset Management Program
Prepare and implement a Dig Once policy
Accelerate the transition to clean energy and electrification Implement Complete Streets to provide sustainable
and healthy transportation
Develop natural streetscapes that provide ecosystem services Use sensors, data, and advanced technologies
Take advantage of a strong financial position to address infrastructure needs and commit to reducing large unfunded infrastructure liability by doubling capital expenditures Prepare a wildfire mitigation and safety plan
STATEGY THREE Adopt Sustainable and Safe Technologies
Develop an organization that is integrated and has
capacity to deliver
Prepare a program approach with management tools
Provide independent oversight and reporting
Prepare the City’s Organization to Implement
a Major Capital Program
STATEGY FOUR Invest in Our Future

STATEGY FIVE
STATEGY TWO Manage Infrastructure from Cradle to Grave
1 2
3 4
5 >
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
VISION 2050
The Vision 2050 Framework
focused on better coordination,
integrated project delivery,
utilizing new financing
mechanisms, and broad principles
and strategies for our infrastructure
needs. The Framework was
approved by Berkeley’s City
Council in September 2020. The
City Manager then turned to
implement the recommendations
and assigned the Public Works
Department to lead the effort.

A timeline for the Vision 2050
initiative is shown below.
2017
Mayor Arreguin announces
Vision 2050 Initiative
November 2018
Measure R approved
by voters
2018-2019
Residents task force
conducted analysis
September 2020
City Council approves
Vision 2050 Framework
Current
Implementation led by
City Manager
Figure 2: Vision 2050 Principles, Strategies, and Recommended Actions Figure 3: Timeline for Vision
2050 Initiative

7 Vision 2050 Program Plan - DRAFT

1.2 What is an Infrastructure Program Plan?
This Infrastructure Program Plan (Plan) is the
City of Berkeley’s roadmap to rebuild our public
infrastructure over the next 30 years. This Plan
supports the Vision 2050 principles and provides
information on outcome objectives, program
elements, community input, the funding plan,
program implementation, and program oversight
and reporting. The Plan serves as a roadmap to
guide the many infrastructure decisions that will
be required throughout the next three decades.

The Plan is flexible and adaptable, so the City can
anticipate and address new challenges that we
will face in the future. Why prepare a Plan now?
Improving the City’s infrastructure requires new
funding and a revenue measure or measures, which
voters may consider on the November 2022 ballot.

This Plan is prepared to provide the public with
an understanding of the “big picture” for Vision
2050 in advance of voting for new funding. This
approach is an advancement from prior measures.

The Plan describes the work at the asset category
level—streets, stormwater, parks, waterfront, etc. It
is not a project-by-project prioritization. That will
happen if voters approve funding, after which a
project and program team will be formed and an
oversight committee designated.

1.3 Core Values and Principles Guide our Planning
Berkeley’s streets, storm drains, sewers, and water
lines date back to the early decades of the 20th
century. Critical systems are simply wearing out.

Recent budgets have been insufficient to address
these infrastructure needs, let alone modernize
our systems or improve their resilience. As defined
in the City’s resilience strategy, resilience is the
capacity of individuals, communities, institutions,
businesses, and systems within a city to survive,
adapt, and grow no matter what kinds of chronic
stresses and acute shocks they experience.

The growing backlog of aging infrastructure leaves
the community vulnerable to unplanned failure and
service interruptions. For residents, workers, and
businesses, this can translate to unsafe conditions,
increased cost, and impediments to quality of life.

Examples of infrastructure needs are shown in
Figure 4.

As we begin to grapple with Berkeley’s unfunded
infrastructure needs, new challenges are emerging.

The local impacts of the global climate crisis
pose a major threat to our aging infrastructure.

Extreme storm events, wildfires, heat waves,
drought, groundwater, and sea level rise will
challenge streets, pipes, and open spaces that were
designed for a more benign environment. These
vulnerabilities are layered upon other acute risks
such as a major earthquake, and chronic challenges
such as inequity. If our city is to survive and thrive, we must increase our resilience to these challenges.

8 May 2022
Street Pavement Damage
Sidewalk Repair
Deteriorated Marina Dock
As we rebuild our infrastructure and, at the same
time, reimagine a landscape for a changing future,
our infrastructure decisions must remain flexible,
yet grounded in a set of clear values. For this
reason, the Vision 2050 Framework identified four
core values as shown in Figure 5. These values will
guide implementation of Vision 2050.

Figure 4: Example Infrastructure Needs
Figure 2: Vision 2050 Principles

9 Vision 2050 Program Plan - DRAFT
Figure 5: Vision 2050 Core Values

10 May 2022
02 INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDS

AND COMMUNITY PRIORITIES
This section provides an update on the City’s infrastructure funding needs and the community’s infrastructure priorities.

11 Vision 2050 Program Plan - DRAFT

2.1 Infrastructure Needs
The City has an extensive portfolio of capital assets
and infrastructure, including 216 miles of streets,
more than 300 miles of sidewalks, 255 miles of
sewers, 78 miles of underground storm drains, 95
public buildings, 52 parks, 2 pools, and 3 camps.

In addition, the City operates and maintains the
Berkeley Waterfront and its related facilities,
including the pier, docks, pilings, channel, streets,
pathways, parking lots, buildings, trails, Adventure
Playground, and 1,000 berth marina.

A City budget is prepared every two years and it
includes a Capital Improvement Program (CIP).

The City’s ability to fund its CIP is limited by the
total available resources that are competing with
other community priorities. CIP funding resources
include the General Fund, a number of special
revenue funds, grants, and loans. The CIP attempts
to identify all known CIP projects, categorizing them
as baseline (annual, recurring program), one-time
(special allocations, grants, loans), and unfunded
(funding source has yet to be identified).

The FY2022 CIP identified an infrastructure capital
funding need of more than $1 billion in Berkeley.

However, these infrastructure needs are constantly
changing due to increased construction costs
and new planning studies that result in updated
cost estimates. Past estimates also focused
primarily on “fix it first” type repairs rather than the transformational infrastructure sought by the Vision
2050 Framework.

For this reason, Table 1 provides an updated list
of infrastructure needs. This list includes updates
from prior estimates and advances Vision 2050 in
several significant ways. It adds asset categories
that are more than simply fixing or repairing an
asset and are about the ultimate use and safety of
the asset. For example, instead of solely identifying
the deferred maintenance in our pavement, the list
includes the cost of fully implementing our adopted
Bicycle and Pedestrian Plans, which would keep
our streets safe for all users, especially bicyclists
and pedestrians. Instead of focusing solely on
traditional infrastructure, it includes trees as an
important infrastructure category and begins to
address the climate crises by building in the cost of
undergrounding the City’s evacuation routes.

Some of these categories have existing, dedicated
funding for which an increase is necessary to cover
these needs. Others categories may require multiple
revenue sources, such as the General Fund, grants,
State and Federal funding, developer contributions,
user rates, and new revenue sources. An estimate
of potential revenue from these funding sources is
provided in Section 4.

Figure 6 summarizes these same needs, grouped by
asset category within each of the four Vision 2050
Program outcomes discussed in Section 3. If these
needs are addressed, then Vision 2050’s goal of
resilient and sustainable infrastructure will
be reached.

12 May 2022
TABLE 1

INFRASTRUCTURE FUNDING NEEDS
(These are updated on an ongoing basis)
Asset Category Infrastructure Funding
Needs, in 2022 dollars
More immediate needs
Parks, camps, and pools $81,000,000
Watefront $131,000,000
Public buildings $288,000,000
Sidewalks $60,000,000
Streets $248,000,000
Sewers $194,000,000
Stormwater $259,500,000
Traffic Controls, Streetlights, and Parking $26,000,000 Longer-term needs
Bike and Pedestrian plan projects $122,500,000
Maudelle Shirek Building (Old City Hall),
Veterans Memorial Building, Civic Center Park
$110,000,000
Transfer station and recycling center $76,000,000
Transit projects $45,000,000
Trees $21,000,000
Utility Undergrounding $105,000,000
Total Average $1,767,000,000
Table 1’s cost estimates are largely work that would
be capital funded. In some cases, such as with
streets and roads, the estimate includes recurring
annual costs to keep the asset performing at the
expected level and without deterioration. The
requirement to fund the annual maintenance of
assets is addressed in the Asset Management
Program discussed in Section 6.

13 Vision 2050 Program Plan - DRAFT

2.2 Community Input and Priorities
To better understand the community’s infrastructure
priorities, the following was completed in winter
2021 through spring 2022:
› Two statistically-reliable surveys of a
representative sample of 500 Berkeley voters
› Meetings with over 25 commissions and local
community organizations
› An online public survey that received over
1,000 responses
› An informational mailer to all Berkeley residents
› Development of a Vision 2050 website
BerkeleyVision2050.org
› Four virtual large area public meetings
All of these efforts have been instrumental in sharing
information and gaining input in the development of
this Program Plan.

A survey in October 2021 of a random,
representative sample of 500 Berkeley voters
elicited respondents’ infrastructure priorities and
found that voters’ top priorities included:
› Increasing affordable housing for
low-income and homeless residents
(79% rated as“important”)
› Upgrading storm drains, green infrastructure,
and watersheds to keep pollution from the Bay
(79% important)
› Developing climate change resiliency, including
protecting against sea level rise, wildfires and
drought (78% important)
› Undergrounding utilities to reduce the risk of
wildfire (73% important)
› Repairing deteriorating streets (73% important)
Figure 6: Infrastructure Funding Needs by Vision 2050 Outcome Objective

14 May 2022
An online survey was also conducted and a total
of 1,024 responses were received. For the most
part, the results from the online survey aligned with
the scientific survey. More so than the scientific
survey, street repair stood out as a clear top priority followed by affordable housing. The top five
ranked priorities are listed below, with percentages
indicating the number of respondents who ranked
the particular item as top priority:
› 28.5% – Street repair
› 19.2% – Affordable housing
› 8.3% – Bike lanes/safety
› 7.5% – Climate change resiliency
› 6.8% – Pedestrian safety
Input on this Program Plan was gained from four
large area public meetings held on March 30,
April 6, April 13, and April 20 and the following
Commissions: Environment and Climate, Disaster
and Fire Safety, Disabilities, Parks and Waterfront,
Public Works, and Transportation. Berkeley residents
brought their questions, input, and comments, a
summary of which can be found at
BerkeleyVision2050.org.

This program plan reflects input gathered from these
meetings, including:
› Adding regular five-year updates to the
Program Plan to ensure flexibility and keeping
up to date with technology
› Address overall vision
› Incorporate trees as public infrastructure assets
› Include indicator on tree canopy and diversity
› Address sidewalks
› Address equity and reference existing
equity-based plans
› Include transit
› Explain why affordable housing is being
considered for the revenue measure(s)
› Include developers’ fees as source of revenue
› Address General Fund commitments to
maintaining public infrastructure
› Include public art
› Revise indicators on EVs, sidewalks,
and micromobility
› Revise Program Delivery section to address
paving and traffic safety
› Include more on climate change, e.g., resilience
and electrification in buildings
› Include reference to the San Pablo Park pool
› Include coordination of programs/projects for
multiple benefits

15 Vision 2050 Program Plan - DRAFT

16 May 2022
03 INTRODUCING THE
30-YEAR PROGRAM PLAN

17 Vision 2050 Program Plan - DRAFT

3.1 Outcomes of the Program Plan
This Plan includes visible outcomes. Four major
outcomes have been identified that incorporate and
advance Vision 2050 principles and core values, and
incorporate community input received to date.

The outcomes are shown in Figure 7 and the related
infrastructure components are described below.

Figure 7: Outcomes of the Program Plan
The City’s infrastructure systems are very complex,
are in daily use, and can’t be improved all at once.

This Plan proposes making the improvements over
a 30-year planning period in order to achieve a
sustainable and resilient infrastructure. This is a
reasonable time frame given the need to balance
the work priority, the funding required, tax impacts,
and the ability to deliver the projects. This also
allows time for incorporating new technologies as
they develop.

This 30-year Program Plan provides the
following information:
› The major outcomes from implementing
the Plan
› Implementing the Plan over 30 years
in phases
› Possible results from the first phase

18 May 2022
Outcome 1 – Have Safe and Good Quality Streets
Streets are Safer, More Sustainable, Improved to a Good Condition, and Maintained
Having streets that are safer, use sustainable
technologies, and are in “good” or better condition
is a top priority from the community input, has
been a subject of City audits, and is a priority of
the Council. The asset categories to achieve this
outcome are described below.

Asset Category 1 – Street Surface
The poor condition of Berkeley’s streets has been
documented by the City Auditor’s report Rocky
Road: Berkeley Streets at Risk and Significantly
Underfunded, by residents’ complaints, and by an
overall low Pavement Condition Index (PCI). On a
scale of 0 to 100, streets in a “good” condition have
a PCI between 70 – 79. Berkeley’s streets are “at risk” with an overall average PCI of 57. From a community
survey conducted in the fall of 2021, improving
the condition of Berkeley’s streets is one of the
community’s highest infrastructure priorities. The
target is to improve Berkeley’s streets to a PCI
of more than 70.

Berkeley’s streets in 2050 will look much different
than today. Personal automobiles will be rarer,
and public transit, ride sharing services, bicycling,
and walking more common. Streets will better
serve all users, and include visible engineering
improvements that make bicycling and walking
safer. These streets will make transit easier, safer,
faster, and more reliable to access and use. Work in
our streets will also require a coordinated approach
to the infrastructure above, both at and below the
street surface. This will require planning that is
integrated and uses concepts such as “Dig Once” .

We also will use other street surface technologies
that are long lasting, help absorb stormwater and
reduce pollution, reduce surface temperatures
and the “urban heat island” effect, and reduce our
dependence on asphalt paving, the production of
which generates greenhouse gas emissions.

The expected outcome is for Berkeley’s street
surface to be in an overall “good” condition, to move
toward using sustainable technologies, and to have
Vision Zero and Dig Once policies
fully implemented.

Asset Category 2 - Sidewalks
Most Berkeley residents use a sidewalk daily, and
many of us much more. Sidewalks in 2050 will be
an even more important part of the transportation
network. They will accommodate and promote the
City’s trees and healthy urban forest, serve users
of all levels of ability and accessibility, and use
materials that help filter stormwater and reduce
Reimagine Streets:
› Implement Multi modal Streets with
Protected Sidewalks and Bike Lanes
› Introduce Pervious and/or
Cool Pavement
› Reclaim Street Parking for Trees
and Vegetation
› Promote transit use
Figure 8: Vision 2050 Streets

19 Vision 2050 Program Plan - DRAFT
surface temperatures. At present, the City faces a
backlog of thousands of sidewalk repairs that have
been requested by residents. While Measure T1
has significantly reduced that backlog, the backlog
is about to grow again as City staff complete the
first proactive assessment of the City’s sidewalks to
identify repair locations. This proactive assessment
is being conducted as part of the City’s update to
its Americans with Disabilities (ADA) Transition Plan.

The City addresses sidewalk repairs with short-term
grinding and filling of problem areas and long-term
replacement of damaged sidewalks. Where conflicts
with the urban forest exist, tools like meandering
sidewalks are used to reduce or resolve those
conflicts and make tree removal a last resort.

The expected outcome is for the backlog of
Berkeley’s sidewalk repairs to be completed and to
have adequate resources to address future
repair needs.

Asset Category 3 – Bicycle and
Pedestrian Plans
Eighty percent of the collisions that result in deaths
or severe injuries on our streets involve someone
riding a bike or walking. Making our streets safer
means prioritizing bicycle and pedestrian safety.

This is especially important to help more residents
and workers choose these fossil fuel-free active
transportation modes, and is why Berkeley’s vision
for the future of its transportation network is to be
multi-modal, fossil-fuel free, and equitably accessed.

The City has adopted the 2017 Bicycle Plan and the
2020 Pedestrian Plan, and has identified projects
to help to bring the City closer to these safe and
accessible multi-modal goals.

The City is transforming the City’s bicycle network
into a low-stress experience with a goal of reducing
motor vehicle conflicts and connecting cyclists with
the most utilized portions of the City. At the end
of the program, over 50 miles of city streets will
comprise bikeways, with 15.8 miles of these streets
being full bicycle boulevards that criss-cross the City.

Walking is also a core mode of transportation in
Berkeley. Improving walkability makes Berkeley
safer, more inclusive, and more connected.

As the most accessible and affordable form
of transportation, walking lies at the core of
an equitable mobility network and a healthy
community. In addition to enhancing Berkeley’s
quality of life, improving walking will help the City
to achieve its Vision Zero Policy goal of zero traffic
deaths and severe injuries.

The Berkeley Pedestrian Plan includes an
infrastructure inventory and an assessment of
pedestrian dema
nd and safety. The plan identifies ten
priority street segments requiring projects to improve
pedestrian safety and walkability. Projects provide
improved street design, upgraded pedestrian crossings,
installed speed management and traffic calming, and
improved sidewalk maintenance and accessibility.

The expected outcome is for Berkeley’s Bicycle and
Pedestrian plans to be fully implemented.

20 May 2022
Outcome 2 – Protect the Environment
Infrastructure is Resilient, Protects the Environment, and is Adapted to Climate Change Impacts
Global warming is a significant threat to
communities globally and to the City of Berkeley.

Berkeley’s 2009 Climate Action Plan, 2016 Resilience
Strategy, and 2019 Local Hazard Mitigation Plan
establish city-wide actions to reduce greenhouse
gas emissions and adapt to climate change impacts.

The message is clear that the City’s infrastructure
must be resilient to prepare the City for these risks.

Key goals of the City’s climate action plans are to
use energy more efficiently, transition to renewable
energy as a power source for both buildings and
transportation, improve access to sustainable
transportation modes, recycle our waste, and build
local food systems. The asset categories to achieve
this outcome are described below.

Asset Category 1 - Stormwater and
Watershed Management
The 2012 Watershed Management Plan (WMP)
identified projects to improve storm drains,
restore creeks, attenuate peak flows and to reduce
pollutants entering San Francisco Bay. That project
modelled the Potter and Codornices watersheds.

The City is in the process of updating the WMP .

The updated plan will consider flooding and
drought caused by extreme storm events, sea
level, and groundwater rise, implementation of the
Green Infrastructure Plan, and modelling of all the
watersheds. Infrastructure improvements will include
storm drains, flow attenuation basins, permeable
surfaces, bio-swales, and improvements at
Aquatic Park.

The expected outcome is to have a stormwater
system that addresses future climate impacts,
reduces impervious surfaces, minimizes flooding,
meets the City’s stormwater discharge permit into
San Francisco Bay, prevents pollution from reaching
the San Francisco Bay, and revitalizes the
urban watershed.

Asset Category 2 - Sewers
The City’s wastewater collection system includes
approximately 254 miles of City-owned sanitary
Asset Category 4 - Traffic Controls,
Streetlights, and Parking
In support of creating safe, accessible, and easy to
use streets, the City of Berkeley is planning upgrades
to existing traffic signals, including detection at 67
locations, ADA accessibility, pedestrian push buttons
at 103 locations, and battery back-ups at 124
locations. Public Works maintains 8,011 streetlights
and is planning replacements and upgrades of
2,100 parking meters and 240 pay stations.

The expected outcome is for these traffic controls,
streetlights, and parking needs to be addressed.

21 Vision 2050 Program Plan - DRAFT
sewers, 7,200 manholes and other sewer structures,
seven pump stations, and approximately 31,600
service laterals. The City is responsible for
maintenance and repair of the lower portion of
the service laterals (located within the public right-
of-way) from the property line cleanout to the
connection to the City’s sewer main. Wastewater
generated in the City’s collection system is conveyed
to the East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD)
wastewater interceptor system and is treated at
EBMUD’s Main Wastewater Treatment Plant.

During the 1980s, EBMUD and the seven Satellite
agencies conducted studies to address the problem
of overflows and bypasses of untreated wastewater
that occurred during large wet weather events
due to excessive infiltration and inflow (I/I) into the collection systems. These studies resulted in a long-
term program of construction of collection system
relief sewers and sewer rehabilitation. The City has
rehabilitated or replaced over 200 miles of its gravity sewers and associated lower laterals over the past
30 years. Since 2006, the City has also implemented
a private sewer lateral (PSL) certification program
requiring the inspection and/or repair or
replacement of private (upper) sewer laterals at the
time of property transfer or major building remodel.

The seven Satellites and EBMUD are in a Consent
Decree with the U.S EPA, the State Water Resources
Control Board, and the Regional Water Quality
Control Board, which establishes requirements for
achieving the elimination of untreated wastewater
overflows and bypasses over the next 20 to 25 years.

The expected outcome is to comply with the City’s
requirements in the Consent Decree and seal the
sewer system from storm water intrusion, thereby
reducing the risk of untreated sewage reaching the
Bay during wet weather. This will become even more
important as storms intensify due to the
climate crisis.

Asset Category 3 - Undergrounding
Overhead Utility Wires
The City of Berkeley’s stated goal, as outlined in
the General Plan, Disaster Preparedness and Safety
Element, is to ensure the City’s disaster related
efforts are directed toward preparation, mitigation,
response and recovery from disaster shocks. The
Berkeley Local Hazard Mitigation Plan states that our
two greatest disaster challenges are a Hayward Fault
rupture and Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) fire.

The climate crisis will result in periods of drought
followed by very wet winters, producing heavy
vegetation, dry summers, and hot easterly winds
in the late summer. These conditions are known to
create significant fires such as the 1991 Oakland
Hills Tunnel Fire and fires in many parts of California in the past five years.

Methods to reduce the threat of overhead
wires creating WUI fires include aggressive
vegetation management and other fire hardening
techniques. Overhead power lines, more so than
undergrounded wires, can exacerbate unsafe
conditions either by contributing to the disaster itself or hampering public safety efforts and evacuations.

Earthquakes and landslides can knock over utility
poles creating a special hazard. In an earthquake,

22 May 2022
poles have a tendency to sway in opposite directions
causing wires to snap and throw sparks. Some of
California’s biggest fires have started because of live wires in contact with combustible fuel.

The Public Works Commission led a three-phase
study to underground overhead utility wires in
Berkeley. The Phase 3 report recommended
undergrounding along evacuation routes to support
public safety through ingress of first responders
and egress of community members in the event of a
major disaster.

The expected outcome is to implement the Phase 3
study recommendations to underground overhead
utility wires along Berkeley’s evacuation routes and
to support neighborhoods in fire zones that choose
to underground.

Asset Category 4 – Electrification
of Buildings Neighborhoods
and Transportation
A major goal of Vision 2050 is to decrease the City’s
overall climate impact. This effort requires both the
reduction of City-wide energy use and transition
away from fossil fuels to renewable energy. The
Existing Buildings Electrification Strategy in 2021
transitions existing buildings in Berkeley from natural gas appliances to all-electric alternatives in a way
that benefits all residents, especially members of
historically marginalized communities. As identified
in the City’s Resilience Strategy and Climate Action
Plan, Berkeley seeks an energy system that, by 2045,
is carbon neutral and delivers carbon-free electricity
across a highly distributed system. Multifaceted
changes to existing infrastructure and its uses are
required to achieve carbon neutrality. Improvements
to the existing energy grid may include, among
other items:
› Increasing electricity distribution capacity to
accommodate neighborhood electrification and
mobility charging, in coordination with streets
and other infrastructure improvements
› Improving or expanding access to transformers,
vaults, and switchgears
› Seeking opportunities to decommission
gas pipes in areas where buildings or
neighborhoods are transitioning to all-electric
› Supporting solar energy and storage for critical
facilities that prioritizes renewable backup
power over diesel generators, including mobile
batteries and electric vehicle-to-
building connections
› Increasing electric vehicle infrastructure
for municipal fleet and distributed mobility
charging for residents
The expected outcome is to achieve the City’s goal
of becoming a fossil fuel-free city as soon
as possible.

Asset Category 5 – Urban Forest
The City’s municipal forest includes approximately
42,000 street, park, and median trees. These are
often referred to as “city trees” or “public trees.”

CLIMATE EQUITY FUND

PILOT PROGRAMS
In 2021, the Berkeley City Council allocated
$600,000 for Climate Equity Fund Pilot
Programs that provide decarbonization
and resilience programs for low income
community members to retrofit homes,
increase access to electric bikes or other
forms of electric micro mobility, and gain
access to resilience measures and other
electrification measures.

23 Vision 2050 Program Plan - DRAFT
They are maintained by the Parks, Recreation, and
Waterfront’s Urban Forestry Unit, which performs
pruning, removing, and planting trees. These trees
are hard at work. They remove pollutants and carbon
dioxide from the air, help cool the City during the
summer, absorb stormwater during storms, and help
the City stay green and support a high quality of life.

However, there are approximately 10,000 vacant tree
locations and many of these locations are in areas
with higher proportions of low-income residents
of color. The expected outcome is to increase our
City’s tree canopy by planting thousands more trees
for the purpose of enhancing our urban forest,
sequestering carbon, addressing equity, mitigating
urban heat island impacts, and improving quality
of life.

Asset Category 6 - Specific Resilience
Infrastructure Assets
While limiting City-wide climate impact is necessary,
the effects of global warming are already testing
traditional infrastructure and will continue to push
our resources to their limits. Worsening drought
conditions, increased risk of extreme weather
events such as flooding and sea level rise create
major challenges for our water supplies, watershed
management, and resilience of our underground
infrastructure systems. These events also have
implications on the safety, health, and well-being
of the community. The City has identified several
new technologies and infrastructure to build while
working towards climate adaptation and resilience.

Some of the new infrastructure and adaptation
strategies include:
› Develop rainwater catchments, expanding
the use of gray water and expanding the
distribution and use of EDMUD recycled water
(purple pipe) for landscaping irrigation.
› Use natural green infrastructure solutions
including infiltration basins, wetlands,
bioswales, permeable paving, etc. to mitigate
flooding from the combined effects of
groundwater, sea level rise, and extreme
rain events.
› Increase the urban forestry canopy and use cool
paving technologies to protect against
extreme heat.
› Upgrade Community Resilience Centers
and Resilience Hubs to ensure respite and
evacuation capacity.
› Identify and manage urban – wildland forest
canopy to mitigate wildfire risks.
› Install technologies such as air filtration to
mitigate wildfire smoke impacts.
› Use “cool” paving and reduce dark asphalt
street surfaces to combat urban heat
island effects.
› Improve seismic safety systems in City facilities
to reduce impacts from future earthquakes.

24 May 2022
Outcome 3 – Promote Quality of Life
Open Space, Parks, and Recreation Improve Our Quality of Life A key outcome of the Vision 2050 initiative is to
improve our overall quality of life through the
promotion of open spaces, parks, and recreational
opportunities. The asset categories to achieve this
outcome are described below.

Asset Category 1 - Parks
The City has 52 parks that contain 15 athletic fields,
49 sports courts (basketball and tennis), and 63 play
areas. Many parks need significant improvements
to pathways, lighting, irrigation systems, play
structures, and athletic fields. The expected outcome
is to implement these improvements.

Asset Category 2 – Pools
The City has two swimming pools, one by King
Middle School and the other at West Campus. The
pools require improvements to the locker rooms and
office areas, and improvements to piping, decking,
tiling, and roofs. While the King pool has a 30-year
lease, the West Campus site has a five-year lease
with the possibility that a new pool will be built at
San Pablo Park that serves south and west
Berkeley residents.

Asset Category 3 – Park Buildings
and Restrooms
The City has four community centers, 2 clubhouses,
29 restrooms, and outbuildings. Many of the
required improvements have been made with
funding from Measure T1. Future improvements
include seismic/deferred maintenance at some
park buildings, renovation of existing restrooms,
and construction of new restrooms. The
expected outcome is to implement the required
improvements, including electrification, elimination
of natural gas connections, and the addition of solar
and battery storage, where feasible.

Asset Category 4 – Camps
The City of Berkeley’s non-resident camps include
Cazadero Camp located off the Russian River, Echo
Lake Camp located just above South Lake Tahoe,
and Berkeley Tuolumne Camp located just east of
Yosemite Park. These camps include hundreds of
facilities, amphitheaters, bridges, pathways, water
systems, and swimming pools.

There are two significant camp projects in progress.

The rebuilding of Berkeley Tuolumne Camp is
nearly completed and is scheduled to reopen in the
summer of 2022. At Cazadero Camp, the Jensen
Dorm, which was destroyed by a landslide in 2016,
has been reconstructed. These projects are primarily
funded by insurance.

The expected outcome is to complete the
construction at the camps and to have them back
in operation.

Asset Category 5 – Waterfront
The Waterfront is the largest public marina in the
Bay Area located on 125 acres of land and 50
acres of water, and includes approximately 1,040
berths, public access docks, pilings, channels,
streets, pathways, parking lots, buildings, restrooms,
buildings, and small boat launch ramps.

There are many funding needs at the Waterfront,

25 Vision 2050 Program Plan - DRAFT
Outcome 4 – Have Safe Public Facilities
Public Facilities are Safe, Resilient, and Provide Community Placemaking The City is responsible for maintenance of 95
facilities, not including Library facilities and facilities leased to other entities. These facilities include 39
facilities in the Parks, Recreation, and Waterfront
inventory and 56 facilities in the Public Works
inventory. These facilities house City staff and are
places where residents receive public services.

These facilities need to be safe, healthy, and resilient, and provide community placemaking, where the
connection between people and these places is
strengthened. The asset categories to achieve this
outcome are described below.

Asset Category 1 – Public Buildings
In 2013, staff retained a consultant to perform
assessments and provide updated condition reports
and cost estimates for the City’s facility inventory.

The recommended improvements are extensive.

All projects included in these assessments are
considered either major maintenance or capital
projects. Despite support from a variety of City
funds, the cost for routine maintenance, major
maintenance, and capital improvements far exceeds
currently existing sources of funds.

The expected outcome is that condition
assessments of the City’s public buildings will be
conducted regularly, and necessary improvements
identified and completed. These improvements
include electrification, elimination of natural gas
where many of the facilities have reached the
end of their useful life and are starting to fail.

As documented in multiple reports, there is a
diminishing ability to pay for the pressing capital
needs in the Waterfront. The Marina Fund is the
City’s mechanism for managing all Waterfront
revenues and expenditures. Revenues steeply
declined in the last two years as a result of safety
and security concerns and failing infrastructure.

The combination of falling revenue and increasing
expenditure needs have strained the relatively small
Marina Fund to a breaking point.

The City has begun a long-term planning effort
– the Berkeley Marina Area Specific Plan (Figure
9)– to establish the community’s vision for the
Waterfront and to plan for making the Marina
Fund viable and stable. There is still a need to
address urgent infrastructure repairs to finger
docks, pilings, electrical systems, and restrooms.

If these investments are not made, facilities and
infrastructure will either require more costly
emergency funding or be closed as in the case of
the Berkeley Pier.

The expected outcome is to make the urgent repairs,
complete the Berkeley Marina Area Specific Plans,
and to return the Marina Fund to solvency.
› Ensure Structural Integrity
› Develop for Recreational Use
Figure 9: Marina Community Vision

26 May 2022
connections, and addition of solar and battery
storage, where feasible.

Asset Category 2 – Civic Center
The Civic Center comprises portions of the area
surrounding Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center Park
including the Maudelle Shirek Building “Old City
Hall” (1909) and the Veterans Memorial Building
(1928). Presently, the historic buildings have
decades of accumulated deferred maintenance
and are seismically unsound. As part of the city’s
Measure T1 program, the Veterans Memorial
Building and Old City Hall were slated for structural
analysis and visioning of possible conceptual design
alternatives, in concert with Civic Center Park. A
consultant was retained to conduct a community
outreach strategy, perform an assessment of the
existing infrastructures, identify programs and
functions for the two buildings, develop concepts
for improvements for the Park. The consultant
completed this work and presented a suite of
financing and revenue generation strategies for the
facility. City Council approved the following vision:

The expected outcome is to design and construct
a Civic Center consistent with this vision and to
provide placemaking.

Asset Category 3 – Transfer Station and
Recycling Center
The city’s current solid waste transfer station was
opened in 1983. In the late 1980s, Berkeley’s
recycling operations relocated to the site to be
operated by the Community Conservation Center.

In the 1990s, the residential recyclable collection
operator, the Ecology Center, was allocated an area
at the site for its operations yard and office building.

These facilities are not integrated and operations are
not coordinated in a way that provides customers
ease of use, access, or efficient drop-off of materials.

These facilities do not meet current seismic
requirements, have not been upgraded or improved
since constructed, exceed their serviceable life, and
cannot help meet the city’s Zero Waste Goal.

The city retained a consultant to conduct a feasibility study to build a new solid waste transfer and
recycling facility. Through active collaboration and
community participation between November 2018
to May 2019, the city has developed a consensus
around two conceptual facility designs.

The expected outcome is that the CEQA analysis
and design of the approved project will be
completed and a replacement facility constructed
that helps the city achieve its Zero Waste goal.

CIVIC CENTER VISION
The Civic Center will be the heart of Berkeley’s
community. Civic Center will be the prime
space for civic life, culture, and the arts. It will
reflect the city’s diverse identities, celebrating
its history, and contributing to shaping its
future. A place of shared resources and a
platform for free expression accessible to all,
Civic Center aims to manifest the city’s values,
advance social justice, and demonstrate the
power of true public space.

Award Winning Remodel of
the Mental Health Building

27 Vision 2050 Program Plan - DRAFT

3.2 Work Prioritization and Phasing
The Vision 2050 program is planned to be
implemented over 30 years in approximately three,
10-year phases. Due to the work’s complexity and
volume, an understandable prioritization process
is needed to sequence the work. The Program Plan
uses a scoring system based on these components
and weighting:
› Envision criteria, 60% weighting
› Community input criteria, 40% weighting
The Vision 2050 report recommended the use of
multi-criteria decision-making and suggested using
the Envision criteria as prioritization tool. Envision
is a program that is organized by the Institute for
Sustainable Infrastructure and provides an objective
framework of criteria designed to help identify
ways in which sustainable approaches can be used
to plan, design, construct, and operate individual
infrastructure projects.

The Envision framework includes 64 sustainability
and resilience indicators organized around five
categories: quality of life, leadership, resource
allocation, natural world, and climate and resilience.

Envision is now widely applied to civil infrastructure
projects akin to LEED certification. This criteria is
given a weighting of 60%.

The other criteria comprises community input
from the surveys, online feedback and community
meetings. What the community wants for Berkeley
is important and this criteria is given a weighting of
40%. The resulting criteria and score sheet is shown
on Table 2.

Envision Criteria (Weight 60%)
Community Input Criteria (Weight 40%)
TABLE 2:

PRIORITIZATION SCORE CARD

28 May 2022
Each asset category was rated using the score sheet,
and initial scoring was completed by managers
in the Public Works and Parks, Recreation and
Waterfront departments. A summary of the scoring
results is shown on Table 3. This rating is intended
as a general guideline for resource allocation. It
does not dictate when the works gets done as there
may be other project requirements. For planning
purposes, the work can be placed in three priority
groups as shown in Table 3. This can serve as a start
for the planning of a 30-year program. More details
of the 3-phase program will be developed by the
program team, should voters approve new funding
for the program. Ultimately, the City Council will
select the projects to fund and their timing.

The Program Plan’s goal is to ensure all of these
asset categories become Priority 1 well before
2050. Asset categories in Priorities 1 and 2 are most
aligned to resilience and sustainability measures in
the criteria and are closest to being able to move
into construction. Many of the asset categories
in Priorities 2 and 3 require more public process,
planning, and/or engineering, some of which may
be supported by a revenue measure or measures.

Some of these asset categories, such as sewer, have
sufficient, dedicated funding sources that make
them unnecessary to prioritize for new
revenue funding.

When sufficient funding mechanisms and the project
team are in place, the work of selecting projects will
begin. The process will be carried out separately for
each 10-year program phase. The project selection
process is shown on Figure 10. This process is
being used successfully on the second phase of the
Measure T1 program. Projects that are identified as
high priority for implementation within each 10-year
phase will move forward to final acceptance after
staff analysis, community and Commission input, and
City Council review and approval. The prioritization
of the projects will use the scorecard shown on Table
2, or as updated at the time.

TABLE 3

SUMMARY OF PRIORITY SCORING
Priority Asset Category by Score
1 Streets
Bicycle and Pedestrian
Plan projects
Sidewalks
2 Undergrounding
Stormwater
Parks
Trees
Waterfront
3 Traffic Controls, Streetlights,
and Parking
Transit projects
Civic center
City buildings
Transfer station
Sewer

29 Vision 2050 Program Plan - DRAFT
Figure 10: Project Approval Process

30 May 2022
04 THE PLAN’S FUNDING,

RESULTS, AND TAX IMPACT
This section describes a high-level funding approach to achieving resilient and sustainable infrastructure by 2050, the various sources of funds available for this work, results that could be delivered, and a review of the tax impacts on residents for implementing a Vision 2050 program.

31 Vision 2050 Program Plan - DRAFT

4.1 Funding Sources
Achieving a resilient and sustainable infrastructure
by 2050 will require new revenue from a variety of
sources, including new voter-approved measures.

Adjustment to user fees and rates that are dedicated
to certain services will be another important source
of infrastructure funding. For example, Berkeley’s
sewer system is operated and maintained through
user fees charged to customers. Through financial
analysis, staff have determined that the $194
million needed in the city’s sewer systems can be
addressed in the next decade or so with cost-of-
living adjustments to existing rates. Other services
have dedicated funding sources (or rates), but
that funding falls short. This is true of the city’s
stormwater fee and a special parcel tax for parks
and trees. Other sources of funds include grants
(federal, state, and other), developer fees, city funds (including the General Fund), and property owner
fees, e.g., 50/50 sidewalk repairs.

Figure 11 shows the anticipated funding sources
that will be available to complete each of the four
Program outcomes and deliver sustainable and
resilient infrastructure by 2050. This is a high-level
projection with many assumptions yet to be proven,
but is offered to show a funding path to the Vision
2050 destination and its dependence on a variety of
revenue sources.

Figure 11: Vision 2050 Funding Sources

32 May 2022

4.2 Funding Alternatives
For the November 2022 ballot, two types of
infrastructure revenue measures are being
considered: a General Obligation Bond (or
Infrastructure Bond) and Parcel Tax.

General Obligation Bonds (GO Bonds) are paid
by an ad valorem property tax based on taxable
property assessed value and can only be used
to fund capital improvements (no maintenance,
operations or services). GO Bonds are considered
the most secure type of municipal debt and carry
the lowest interest rates given the taxing power
for repayment of the debt service. GO Bonds can
also be structured to match the life expectancy of
the infrastructure improvements and be issued in
independent series as required based on project
costs and timing. This phasing can allow for a better
alignment of infrastructure utilization and repayment
of the debt. Also, bond measures are generally
considered progressive forms of taxation since they
are based on the assessed value of properties.

The city has historically managed its GO Bond
program for each authorization (Measures G, S, I,
FF, M, T1 and O) through the issuance of individual
bond series calculated to meet the capital funding
requirements of the projects. Bonds were issued
in amounts that minimized the impact on the tax
rate required to make debt service payments. Since
1992, the city has maintained annual tax rates below
original projections represented to voters for each
of the GO Bond authorizations.

A Parcel Tax is a property tax that generates
annual special revenues for capital, operations,
maintenance and services. State law provides for
a number of different tax formulas for levies to all
properties (residential and commercial) including
per parcel, building square footage or land use.

A parcel tax cannot be based on property value.

A parcel tax based on building square feet is
generally considered a progressive form of taxation
since larger properties pay more than smaller
properties, and exemptions for seniors and low-
income property owners are allowed.

Given the scale of the infrastructure need, the
Program Plan assumes an initial funding phase in
the range of $600M, to be generated through one
or more voter-approved measures in November
2022. The measures could include a single $600M
GO Bond (Infrastructure Bond) or a combination of
a $300M GO Bond and an additional $0.30 building
square foot parcel tax.

Comparisons of general obligation bonds and
parcel taxes are summarized in Table 4 on the
next page.

Option #1 – $600 million GO Bond
(Infrastructure Bond)
A $600 million GO Bond would be used to fulfill a
portion of the asset replacement priorities following
the priorities developed using the Vision 2050/
Envision prioritization scorecard, as discussed
above. This distribution of funds would focus on
improving the city’s street, traffic, and pedestrian
safety, which present the highest risk for any of the
Asset Categories. Such a measure could have the
following investment priorities:
› $250 million – Outcome 1: Streets are safe,
sustainable, and in good condition

33 Vision 2050 Program Plan - DRAFT
TABLE 4

FUNDING MECHANISMS
Type GO Bond Parcel Tax
TAX BASIS Assessed Value (AV) Building square footage
USE OF FUNDS Capital only Capital + Maintenance
TAX PROGRESSIVITY Progressive Progressive
EXEMPTIONS None Low income/senior
PROS Relative tax burden decreases as
total AV increases
Fixed payments with cost of living
adjustments, funds capital and
maintenance
CONS
Cannot pay for maintenance
or operations
Does not adjust for future costs
Increases tax burden if building
square footage increases
› $150 million – Special Need: Affordable
housing for low-income and homeless residents
› $125 million – Outcome 2: Infrastructure is
resilient and adapts to climate change
› $75 million – Outcomes 3 and 4: Other public
infrastructure improvements
This option funds the community’s top priorities
voiced in the public outreach: affordable housing,
street repair, and resilience to climate change.

Street repair is also the top and most urgent
need identified by online survey respondents,
and is supported by the city’s prioritization using
the Vision 2050/Envision scorecard. This option
would significantly reduce the city’s risk related to
infrastructure unfunded liabilities, and improve the
City’s streets to good condition while making streets
safer for all users.

Why is affordable housing included in these possible revenue measures? The Vision 2050 Framework focused on infrastructure, not affordable housing. However, on April 27, 2021, City Council approved exploring revenue measures that addressed both infrastructure and affordable housing, given both were top priorities for residents. Housing and infrastructure are connected. Ensuring affordable housing in a city such as Berkeley reduces greenhouse gas emissions because it affords lower and middle-income residents an opportunity to live closer to where they work, which means less emissions getting to work. At the same time, ensuring affordable housing is an important tool for ensuring a diverse and equitable city, which is an important priority of our community and City Council.

34 May 2022
Option #2 – Bond and Parcel
Tax Measures
Multiple measures on the November 2020 ballot
could include the following:
› An parcel tax of $0.30 per building square foot,
raising approximately $28 million annually,
that is dedicated to streets and traffic safety as
described under Outcome No. 1
› An infrastructure bond of $300 million with
$150 million to address affordable housing for
low-income persons and the unhoused and
$150 million to improve resilience to climate
change, wildfire prevention and protection, and
to improve other select public infrastructure, as
described in Outcome No. 2, 3, and 4
Similar to Option No. 1, this approach also funds
voters’ top priorities. In addition, having multiple
measures provides more flexible sources of funding
that could address maintenance needs in addition
to capital improvements. Results from these
investments are likely to be better than the results
from Option No. 1. However, each of these measures
would have to separately meet the two-thirds
voter-support threshold for approval. If one or both
measures are not approved by voters, the city will
not be able to address the current backlog of
infrastructure or housing needs.

Results
Per Section 4.1, these results assume the City
continues its track record of successfully leveraging
state, federal, and regional grants, and City Council
allocates a total of $15 million to annual paving from
non-revenue measure sources in order to ensure
proper ongoing maintenance of the City’s streets.

These investments would:
› Improve streets to good paving condition
› Implement 75%+ of adopted traffic safety plans
(bike/ped) and achieve Berkeley’s vision of a
low-stress bike network
› Complete selected sea level rise projects,
and begin to implement undergrounding of
evacuation routes and the stormwater/green
infrastructure plan
› Assist in advancing the city’s park and public
realm projects, e.g., Waterfront and Civic
Center Renovation
One significant caveat is that Option #2 is much
better positioned to deliver these needs after
accounting for costs that increase in future years.

A parcel tax can include an annual cost of living
adjustment, whereas a GO bond’s funding maximum
amounts are static.

35 Vision 2050 Program Plan - DRAFT
Property tax rates for Berkeley property owners are
comparable to neighboring cities. After accounting
for ad valorem taxes, city voter-approved taxes and
assessments, school district taxes, and other fixed
charges, FY 2021 tax rates in Berkeley (1.58%) were
on par with Oakland (1.54%) and lower than in
Albany (1.89%).

The city’s prior bond issuances include Measure
FF (neighborhood libraries), Measures G, S, and I
(public safety, main library/seismic retrofit, animal
shelter), Measure O (affordable housing), Measure
M (streets and watershed), and Measure T1
(infrastructure and public facilities). Debt service
from prior bond measures constitutes only 3.2% of
the average property owner’s tax bill.

The city has a current debt service of $52.90 per
$100,000, which is low compared to nearby cities
and their school districts, as shown in the table
below. Even after implementation of Options 1 or 2,
the city’s debt service will continue to be lower than
nearby cities and school districts.

The city has historically maintained low GO Bond
tax rates as shown in Figure 12. This represents
the previously approved bond measures including
the remaining bonds for Measures T1 and O to be
issued over the next four years.

If voters approved a $600 million GO bond,
the maximum tax required for the new bond
authorization will be $91 per $100,000 of assessed
value. Assuming the existing GO bond authorization
capacity are issued as scheduled, the cumulative
debt service on all GO Bonds will increase through
2036, and then begin to decrease as prior bonds
are paid off. Over the life of the $600M GO Bond,

4.3 Review of Tax Implications
TABLE 5

EXISTING DEBT SERVICE

AND TAX IMPACT
2021/22 Tax Rates Total GO Bond
Tax Burden
Per $100,000 $52.90
Average Tax
(based on assessed
property value of
$647,972)
$342.78
TABLE 6

DEBT SERVICE COMPARISON
City or District
Debt Service per
$100,000 of
Assessed Value
City of Oakland $201.10
Albany School District $195.00
Berkeley School District $145.10
City of Albany $130.30
Oakland School District $120.20
City of Berkeley plus
Option 1, $600M Bond
$103.90
(average)
City of Berkeley plus
Option 2, $300M bond
$79.75
(average)
City of Berkeley
(current)
$52.90
(average)

36 May 2022
a property owner will have an average annual
property tax of $51 per $100,000 of assessed value.

If a $300 million bond is approved by voters, the
average annual property tax is estimated to be
$26 per $100,000 of assessed value (excluding the
existing GO Bond authorizations). Due to this lower
bond amount being insufficient to address the City’s
infrastructure need, it is coupled with a separate
parcel tax at an estimated value of $0.30 per square
foot of developed property. Assuming average
developed property size of 1,900 square feet, this
parcel tax would add $570 annually to the average
property owner’s tax bill, which is comparable to the
annual cost of refuse service based on a
32-gallon cart.

Below is a summary of the tax impacts of these
options on an average property, assumed to be an
average valued house at $647,972 (assessed value)
with 1,900 sq ft.

Figure 12: Historical & Projected Property Tax
TABLE 7

SUMMARY OF TAX IMPACTS
Option #1 $600M
GO Bond
Option #2 $300M
GO Bond + Parcel Tax
Tax Rate ($100,000 A.V.)
Avg $51
Max $91
Avg Bond =
Parcel =
$27
30 cents per sq. ft.

Tax (Avg Home: $647,972;
1,900 sq ft)
Avg $332
Max $589
Avg Bond =
Parcel =
Total =
$166
$570
$736

37 Vision 2050 Program Plan - DRAFT
Infrastructure spending has other benefits. It creates
jobs. The U.S. Department of Transportation has
found that for every $1 billion in infrastructure
investment, 13,000 jobs are created. In a place like
Berkeley, which follows both state law on public
works expenditures and local law via a Community
Workforce Agreement, this means jobs that pay
prevailing wages and benefits.

Infrastructure spending also can add art to our
public spaces. If 1 percent of a revenue measure is
dedicated to local public art, as was the case with
Measure T1, or City Council commits an annual
General Fund allotment of a similar amount, then
Berkeley’s public spaces will get more public art.

Public art plays an integral role in improving our
community’s wellbeing by creating inspired spaces
that reflect the unique character of our city. Public art breathes life into the built environment, engages the
community with creative art experiences, and fosters
a sense of belonging.

4.4 Other Benefits of Infrastructure Spending
Art Installation at Civic Center Garage
Statue of William Byron Rumford
Art Installation at Shattuck & Center
Figure 13: Public Art in Berkeley

38 May 2022
05 PROGRAM DELIVERY
The City has well-established capital project divisions in the Public Works Department and Parks, Recreation, and Waterfront Departments, delivering a wide range of infrastructure projects. Given this major 30-year program to rebuild infrastructure, this section looks ahead on how the City will deliver the program, evaluating the City’s current capabilities, sharing information on other cities’ approaches to implementing large capital programs, and recommending actions to implement the Vision 2050 program.

39 Vision 2050 Program Plan - DRAFT

5.1 Current Organization and Measure T1 Implementation
Capital projects are delivered by the Engineering
and Transportation Divisions in the Public Works
Department, and Capital Projects Division of the
Parks, Recreation and Waterfront Department. Most
of this work is based on regular, annual contributions
from special funds, including ratepayer funds (sewer,
stormwater, and streetlight) and a parks-focused
parcel tax.

As shown in the table below, capital investments
have more than doubled in the last decade.

This growth has largely been driven by Measure T1
and the large project to rebuild Tuolumne Camp.

In November of 2016, Berkeley voters passed
Measure T1, authorizing the city to sell $100 million
of General Obligation Bonds to repair, renovate,
replace, or reconstruct portions of the city’s
aging infrastructure.

The City of Berkeley has managed all T1 projects
internally with a team that includes administrative,
financial, and project management staff from the
Public Works and Parks, Recreation, and Waterfront
Departments. Five full-time equivalent positions
were allocated across 11 staff within PW and PRW.

One of the five FTEs is a T1 Associate Management
Analyst. While projects are managed by city staff, the
planning, design, and construction management of
projects are largely completed by consultants.

As a part of preparing this Program Plan, interviews
were conducted with the T1 Management Team and
project managers to learn what has worked well and
how things can be done better in the future.

Positive outcomes of T1 implementation:
› The City has completed nearly all of the
39 projects in Phase 1. Phase 2 projects
are approved and are on track to be
completed by 2026
› Interdepartmental collaboration has been very
effective with regular meetings and
open communications
› Community messaging has been regular and
recurring, with ongoing updates to the website
and email distribution lists, periodic reporting
to Council, and a January 2022 informational
brochure mailed to residents
› The program team has been able to staff up
and retain staff during the program
› Staff costs have been kept to a minimum, i.e.,
less than 12% of project costs
› Meetings are held at the conclusion of each
project to discuss challenges, successes, and
lessons learned
› The project teams have largely been able to
keep up with the project schedules

Year Capital Program
2010 $41.6 million
2020 $114.5 million

40 May 2022
Ideas for future improvements:
› Reduce the time it takes to hire staff
› Increase IT and legal support to match the
program size
› Add consultants to help with certain tasks in
project management
› Improve tools to aid in project management
› Streamline contracting policies, including bid
protest procedures and purchasing policies
It is important to note there will be overlap with
the T1 team completing the Phase 2 projects
and the Vision 2050 team ramping up. The future
organization will need to account for this to ensure
the success of both programs.

5.2 Research on Other Programs
The City and its consultants conducted interviews
with three cities implementing large capital
programs. Interview topics included organization,
tools, implementation, and accountability.

Successes, challenges, and lessons learned were
discussed with each group, too. Table 8 summarizes
the cities and their programs.

TABLE 8

CITIES INTERVIEWED AND THEIR CAPITAL PROGRAMS
City Program Description Budget and Staff
City of Oakland
› Measure KK’s funding allocations are a) $350 million for streets and roads, b) $150 million for facilities and c) $100 million for anti-displacement and affordable housing
› CIP projects are delivered through Public Works (PW) and Transportation (OakDOT). PW delivers non-transportation projects, such as sewer, drainage, and parks. OakDOT delivers transportation projects through two divisions: a) Great Streets (large projects) and b) Safe Streets (street repairs)
› Program management is primarily done with City staff with some consultant support. There are about 20 dedicated staff members for program management
› Staffing vacancies have been as high as 25%
$87M / 20 employees =
~$4.4M per employee.

41 Vision 2050 Program Plan - DRAFT
City of Oakland (cont.)
› Oakland’s PCI was 53 in 2019 and increased to 58 in 2021.

They are using $100 M of Measure KK funds over 3 years to improve 350 miles of street surface
› Measure KK has a 9 member Public Oversight Committee.

The members were appointed by the Mayor and report to
the City Council
City of Sunnyvale
› The Public Works Engineering Division delivers all capital projects through four groups: a) special projects, b) project design, c) construction management, and d) land development
› The special projects group manages very large capital projects, e.g., $1 billion wastewater treatment plant re-build. Consultants handle the day-to-day project management but do not have monetary authority › There are 8 staff in the project design group, who manage the smaller on-going capital projects
› The City uses e-Builder software
› Staffing vacancies are a problem
› City Council’s target PCI is 80. Their current PCI is about 76 $176.5M / 30 employees
= ~$5.9M per employee.

City of San Diego
› The City delivers capital projects through two departments: a) Capital Projects and b) Strategic Capital Projects. Capital Projects perform projects that are $5 to 20 million in size, the work is long-term and they have about 700 staff. The Strategic Capital department works on projects over $100 million in size, the work requires special expertise, there are about 50 staff and there is a high reliance on consultants › The current 5-year CIP has a funding need of $8.4 billion › The City uses OCI (overall condition index) instead of PCI. The City’s target for OCI is 70
› Staff vacancies range from 15 – 20%
› A State of CIP Report is provided to City Council twice per year › San Diego is a participant is a California multi-agency benchmarking group
$830M / 750 employees
= ~$1.1M per employee

42 May 2022
While Berkeley uses City staff for project
management and consultants for planning, design,
and construction management, by comparison, the
larger programs are managed by a combination
of City staff and consultants. Berkeley’s 5 full
time equivalent employees are handling $45
million projects at present, a higher ratio than
these other cities. City staff make all financial
decisions, manage City processes, and complete
repeatable tasks. Consultants assist City staff with
a wide variety of tasks involving project planning,
design, construction management, and execution,
and provide necessary specialized expertise
and knowledge. Some program teams include a
dedicated group who administer grant funding.

Challenges experienced during large program
implementation include difficulty in recruiting and
retaining a talented workforce, having sufficient
administrative and support services, and having
effective and efficient hiring and on-boarding
processes, including a continuous
recruitment process.

These issues could be addressed in part by
including dedicated financial and recruiting staff
that are funded through the revenue measure, and
developing program-specific hiring policies
and procedures.

The recommendations presented in the section
below build off the successes and lessons learned
from implementation of Measure T1 and the
City’s regular capital program, and from the three
cities we interviewed and researched. These
recommendations will help in delivering a more
significant investment in the city’s infrastructure:
› Responsible organization – A Vision 2050
program management team should be formed
and report to the Public Works Director for the
first phase of improvements, given this phase’s
focus is likely within the right of way, which is
Public Works’ responsibility. This team would
be multi-discipline, meaning the team would
be responsible for implementing all aspects
of the Vision 2050 program, including projects
outside of the normal purview of Public Works.

In future phases, as determined by future Vision
2050 priorities, this program management team
could report either to Directors of Public Works
or Parks, Recreation, and Waterfront, a Deputy
City Manager, or the City Manager.
› Multiple Benefits – The Vision 2050 Framework
recommended infrastructure improvements that
have multiple benefits. Given this Plan’s initial
focus on streets and traffic safety, the program
management team will ensure projects are
delivered that, to the extent feasible, combine
paving, traffic safety, and green infrastructure
improvements. Recent annual paving projects
demonstrated progress in this regard, as they
have included paving, green infrastructure,
and various traffic safety features such as
traffic circles, traffic diverters, and pedestrian
islands. Given this plan prioritizes the co-
benefits of street paving and traffic safety,
staff have modeled how to meet both goals
simultaneously. By dedicating two-thirds of
streets-focused investments to paving and one-
third to traffic safety, this Plan’s goals can be met
in ten years or so.
› Program management team and
staffing – The City should initiate a recruitment
for a new full-time position, Vision 2050

5.3 Recommendations for Vision 2050 Implementation

43 Vision 2050 Program Plan - DRAFT
Program Manager. The manager should have
an administrative support person and project
managers (the number to be determined
prior to implementation). The City team would
ideally include dedicated staff in lieu of 3-year
limited term positions, given the duration of the
work. In addition, the city team should include
both an in-house construction inspector and a
project coordinator to assist with time-intensive
tasks such as compiling budget data, preparing
public outreach materials, and coordinating
meetings. Outreach support should be included
on this team as well. The Program Manager
should also have a mix of staff and consultant
support in a blended team. Consultant support
may include: a) preparation of a project
management manual, b) project cost tracking,
c) performance indicator tracking, and d)
management of special projects.
› Engineering functions – As discussed above,
the engineering and capital delivery divisions
in the Public Works and Parks, Recreation and
Waterfront Departments will continue to
deliver ongoing projects. These include
aspects of street paving, sidewalk repairs,
sewer rehabilitation, and park and
playground improvements.
› Special projects – Projects that are not
normally handled by the City’s engineering
divisions should be managed by the program
management team or assigned to a consultant.

Examples of these projects may include utility
undergrounding, seismic improvement to
public buildings, public realm projects, etc
› Supporting departments – Advanced
planning needs to be held with the City’s
procurement, legal, human resources and
information technology departments.

Challenges experienced during large program
implementation include difficulty in recruiting
and retaining a talented workforce and having
effective on-boarding processes. In addition,
the City’s procurement procedures need
updating and improvement. The ideal Vision
2050 organization may include dedicated
recruitment and financial staff, as well as new
policies that are developed specifically for the
program. For example, the City of Oakland
cut 500 staff hours and months from project
timelines by reducing the number of project
and procurement approvals.
› Tools, software and procedures – An
evaluation of current and new tools will be
made for delivering the program. This will
include: a) procurement tools for goods and
services, b) project scheduling and tracking
software, c) document management,
and d) reporting.

44 May 2022
06 SUPPORTING STRATEGIES
This section describes the performance monitoring, oversight and reporting and on-going maintenance that will be a part of implementing a successful Vision 2050 program.

45 Vision 2050 Program Plan - DRAFT

6.1 Performance Indicators
TABLE 9
VISION 2050 KEY PROGRAM PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

1. Streets are Safer, More Sustainable, Improved to a Good Condition, and Maintained Paving condition % of sidewalks in safe condition
Three year average of severe injuries/fatalities % of Bicycle, Pedestrian, and ADA Transition Plans implemented
% of 2020 pavement surface converted to pervious surface Public satisfaction with right of way % of commute trips by solo occupant vehicle % of trips by walking, micro mobility or transit

2. Infrastructure is Resilient, Protects the Environment, and is Adapted to Climate Change Impacts Citywide GHG reductions % of public buildings fossil-fuel free Citywide natural gas consumption % of automobiles that are EV citywide % of Stormwater and GI plans implemented % of sea level rise, undergrounding, and evacuation route projects completed
% of target acres treated by Green Infrastructure % of 2022 vacant street tree sites planted % of public buildings seismically retrofitted

3. Open Space, Parks, and Recreation Improve our Quality of Life % of Backlog Addressed Annually Diversity of the Urban Forest # of Street Trees/Tree Canopy Ratio Public satisfaction at Parks and open spaces

4. Public Facilities are Safe and Provide Community Placemaking % of public realm/placemaking opportunities implemented % of Backlog Addressed % of ADA Transition Plan implemented in buildings Public satisfaction in public spaces % of public buildings with battery storage
A large complex program like Vision 2050 can
benefit from identifying Key Performance Indicators
(KPIs) to track progress. An initial list of KPIs is
shown on Table 9 and are organized around the four
Vision 2050 outcome objectives. The indicators go
beyond the traditional tracking of cost and schedule
progress and incorporate indicators that reflect
sustainability and resilience goals.

It will be important to update these KPIs at the
beginning of each phase of this thirty-year program,
and more frequently in some areas, in order to
incorporate changing conditions, new technologies,
and new priorities.

46 May 2022

6.2 Equity

6.3 Reporting and Oversight
Incorporating equity into infrastructure is a core
value of the Vision 2050 Framework, and is
something Berkeley residents want. Three-fourths
of voters said an infrastructure measure should
incorporate equity.

Poorly maintained infrastructure is inherently
inequitable, as it is more detrimental to Berkeley’s
most vulnerable residents. Those with mobility
impairments can find potholes, deficient sidewalks,
failing hand rails, or out-of-service elevators as
insurmountable challenges. Those on bikes or
walking, instead of in vehicles, are more at risk of
death or serious injury on streets with potholes,
failing pavement markings, and lacking traffic safety
controls. As reported by the city auditor, low-income
residents who depend on their automobile to get
to work face greater risk from the estimated annual
$1,049 repair bill attributable to poorly maintained
streets. The state of our parks, recreation and senior
centers has a serious impact on the programs and
services delivered to children of color and lower
income seniors.

In implementing equity into Vision 2050,
Berkeley will build on recent progress. The City’s
transportation plans prioritize projects in historically underinvested neighborhoods in Berkeley, including
improvements like bus bulbouts and dedicated
bus lanes which help lower income residents more
likely to use transit. Many capital projects approved
in Measure T1 implementation advanced equity.

These projects include the African American Holistic
Resource Center, South Berkeley Senior Center,
the Martin Luther King Jr. Youth Services Center,
and public restrooms citywide approved as part of
Measure T1, Phase 2. In addition, Phase 1 projects
such as paving and park improvements at San Pablo
Park and 10 play structures in West Berkeley also
advance equity.

A Vision 2050 program team will prepare a Program
Management Manual. The manual will include the
performance indicators and a format for reporting
progress. Typically, performance monitoring reports
are prepared on a semi-annual basis. The reports will
be provided to Council and will be available to the
public via the Vision 2050 website.

To ensure accountability, an independent oversight
committee will be formed. This can be an existing
Berkeley commission or a newly formed oversight
committee, as has been used with Berkeley’s Sugar
Sweetened Beverage Product Panel of Experts,
Berkeley Unified School District’s Bond Oversight
Committee, and Oakland’s Measure KK Public
Oversight Advisory Committee. The committee will
review the progress of the work and will prepare an
independent annual report of progress.

47 Vision 2050 Program Plan - DRAFT

6.4 Lifecycle Maintenance
Asset Management is an important concept in
which the city’s infrastructure systems are managed
throughout the life cycle from ‘cradle to grave.’
Taking an asset management approach was
a key part of the City Council adopted Vision
2050 recommendations.

A Strategic Asset Management Plan (SAMP) was
recently prepared to develop policy guidance, to
review the city’s current maintenance practices,
and to prepare a roadmap of key initiatives for
implementing a full Asset Management Program
(AMP) in Berkeley’s Public Works and Parks,
Recreation & Waterfront Departments. Critical
systems that we depend on every day are simply
wearing out. Recent budgets were inadequate for
infrastructure capital and maintenance needs, let
alone modernizing them. An AMP is needed to
manage our infrastructure assets throughout their
useful life.

The city retained a consultant to assess the city’s
current asset management practices against a
global standard benchmark on Asset Management
in six areas: asset strategy and planning, asset
management decision-making, lifecycle delivery,
asset information, organization and people, and risk
assessment. Based on the benchmark, Berkeley’s
average assessment was in the ‘developing’ level of
asset management implementation and comparable
to many U.S. cities, but not nearly good enough.

The consultant worked with city staff to develop
a ‘Roadmap’ of key initiatives in the next two
years to implement an effective AMP .

The components include:
› Prepare an Asset Management policy for City
Council’s adoption
› Form an Asset Management team, consisting of
a team leader and two program staff
› Form an AM Steering Committee to guide the
program implementation
› Provide consultant support
› Prepare the strategies, procedures and analyses
to implement an AMP
The SAMP conducted an asset-by-asset review of
annual infrastructure maintenance funding and
found that some asset categories such as streets
and city buildings had insufficient maintenance
funding by a wide margin, while other assets like
sewer and streetlights had adequate maintenance
funding. Assets such as stormwater have sufficient
maintenance funding now. However, climate change
and green infrastructure might make current funding
commitments insufficient in future years.

48 May 2022

6.5 General Fund Support for Infrastructure Maintenance The level of General Fund contribution for public
infrastructure in the last 12 years has remained flat
in nominal terms. Given escalating annual costs,
this led to a decline in General Fund support
for infrastructure. To remedy this, City Council
is currently considering two budget referrals to
find existing City funding sources that total $15
million per year for street maintenance, which is
the level of investment required to ensure paving
condition does not deteriorate. A common theme
from community engagement has been to grow
General Fund support for infrastructure and, at the
very least, that revenue from any new measures
not replace existing General Fund commitments
to infrastructure. One approach is to set a “floor”
for General Fund support of infrastructure moving
forward, akin to the State of California’s requirement
that cities demonstrate a maintenance of effort in
street funding before allowing cities to use Gas Tax
proceeds to maintain a city’s streets.

The FY 2022 CIP in Brief was the beginning of
melding Vision 2050 into the City’s capital budget

49 Vision 2050 Program Plan - DRAFT
07 APPENDICES
A. Acknowledgements
City of Berkeley
Paul Buddenhagen, Deputy City Manager
Liam Garland, Director, Public Works
Scott Ferris, Director, Parks, Recreation and Waterfront Ray Yep, Vision 2050 Implementation Team Member (volunteer) Margo Schueler, Vision 2050 Implementation Team Member (volunteer) Gordon Wozniak, Vision 2050 Implementation Team Member (volunteer) Andrew Brozyna, Deputy Director, Public Works
Christina Erickson, Deputy Director, Parks, Recreation and Waterfront Farid Javandel, Deputy Director, Public Works
Joe Enke, Manager of Engineering, Public Works
Input from the Leadership Teams in the Public Works and Parks, Recreation and Waterfront Departments

Consultant Team
V.W. Housen and Associates: Vivian Housen, Project Manager Morgan DeAngelis
, Project Engineer

Woodward & Curran: Dave Richardson, Principal
Daniel Windsor
Josh Uecker
Stephanie Hubli

50 May 2022
B. GLOSSARY OF TERMS AND ABBREVIATIONS
Terminology Definition
ADA Americans with Disabilities Act
AMP Asset Management Program
Asset categories A logical grouping of similar assets or equipment types used to categorize, organize, and manage the asset portfolio.

Asset management
Data driven planning that improves operational, maintenance and capital forecasting of potential needs, and optimization of investments to realize the greatest value from assets while operating over their lifecycle.

CEQA California Environmental Quality Act
CIP Capital Improvement Program
City City of Berkeley
Council City Council of Berkeley
EBMUD East Bay Municipal Utility District
Envision
Developed by the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure and Harvard University, Envision provides industry-wide sustainability metrics for all types and sizes of infrastructure to help users assess and measure the extent to which their project contributes to conditions of sustainability across the full range of social, economic, and environmental indicators.

KPI Key Performance Indicator
General obligation bond
A General Obligation bond is a common type of municipal bond that is secured by a government’s pledge to use legally-available resources, including tax revenues, to repay bondholders.

Parcel tax
The parcel tax is a tax on parcels of real property collected as part of a property tax bill.

Unlike the property tax, the parcel tax cannot be based on property value. To impose a parcel tax, governments must win support from two-thirds of voters.

PCI Pavement Condition Index, which is a scale of 0 to 100 (with 100 being the best) that indicates the condition of an asphalt street surface.

Program plan A structured approach to organizing a long term complex array of subcomponents. The plan typically describes the project components, schedule, outcomes, funding, and reporting.

SAMP
Strategic Asset Management Plan. This is a high level plan that reviews an organization’s policies, assesses its maturity on maintenance, and develops a roadmap to implement a lifecycle maintenance management program.

U.S. EPA United States Environmental Protection Agency
Vision 2050
An initiative of Berkeley’s Mayor Jesse Arreguin to take a long term approach to improving Berkeley’s aging infrastructure. The approach incorporates sustainability and resiliency and anticipating a future world with climate impacts.

WMP Watershed Management Plan

51 Vision 2050 Program Plan - DRAFT
C. Reference Documents

1. Information on Vision 2050 can be found on its website: BerkeleyVision2050.org.

2. Reference documents r
eferenced in this program plan can be found on the City of Berkeley website (BerkeleyCA.gov) using the search feature

3. Information on Berkeley’
s Measure T1 program can be found on its website:

BerkeleyCA.gov/your-government/our-work/ballot-measures/measure-t1.

4. Information on the Envision process can be found on the Institute for Sustainable Infr
astructure’s website: SustainableInfrastructure.org.

52 May 2022

MEET YOUR COUNCILMEMBERS
MAYOR DISTRICT 1 DISTRICT 2

JESSE ARREGUIN RASHI KESARWANI TERRY TAPLIN
Term Expires 11/30/2024 Term Expires 11/30/2022 Term Expires 11/30/2024 DISTRICT 3 DISTRICT 4 DISTRICT 5

BEN BARTLETT KATE HARRISON SOPHIE HAHN
Term Expires 11/30/2024 Term Expires 11/30/2022 Term Expires 11/30/2024 DISTRICT 6 DISTRICT 7 DISTRICT 8

SUSAN WENGRAF RIGEL ROBINSON LORI DROSTE
Term Expires 11/30/2024 Term Expires 11/30/2022 Term Expires 11/30/2022 INFRASTRUCTURE PROGRAM PLAN CITY OF BERKELEY VISION 2050 INITIATIVE

Communications

All communications submitted to the City Council are
public record. Communications are not published directly to the City’s website. Copies of individual communications are available for viewing at the City Clerk Department and through Records Online.

City Clerk Department
2180 Milvia Street
Berkeley, CA 94704
(510) 981-6900

Records Online
https://records.cityofberkeley.info/

To search for communications associated with a particular City Council meeting using Records Online:

1. Select Search Type = “Public – Communication Query (Keywords)”

2. From Date: Enter the date of the Council meeting

3. To Date: Enter the date of the Council meeting (this may match the From Date field)

4. Click the “Search” button

5. Communication packets matching the entered criteria will be returned

6. Click the desired file in the Results column to view the document as a PDF