Proposition A, also known as the “Earthquake Safety and Emergency Response Bond,” surpassed the percentage of voter approval needed to move forward Tuesday night after initial election results.
The bond measure, which requires two-thirds approval to pass, has so far received about 77% approval. The Department of Elections has so far counted 125,086 ballots but still had 122,400 left to tally on Wednesday .
The measure would authorize the city to borrow up to $535 million in general obligation bonds to finance earthquake safety projects such as improving water pipelines for firefighting as well as retrofitting and upgrading fire and police facilities.
“I want to thank everybody for supporting Prop A,” said Mayor Daniel Lurie in a video on social media on Wednesday. “It’s going to give our first responders the tools they need to keep us safe, so that was a huge measure that passed last night.”
About $100 million would go toward retrofitting older fire and police buildings, such as the Taraval District police station building that is more than a century old and overdue for a seismic upgrade.
Around $200 million would support renovating the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency’s bus storage and maintenance facility at Potrero Yard, which Lurie says provides buses to transport disaster service workers and emergency responders.
The rest of the proposed loans, around $130 million, would fund the new water system.
The election results will be next updated at 4 p.m. Thursday.
