The Honorable Ben Hueso
Council President, San Diego City Council
City Administration Building

San Diego, CA 92101
RE: NEW MAIN LIBRARY (Item 332: Contract Amendments and Project Costs)
Dear Council President Hueso:

Councilmember DeMaio\u201fs office recently released a thoughtful analysis of main library project cost estimates using conservative assumptions. Under that scenario, the project was estimated to exceed $200 million. Assuming for a moment that the library costs come in at the original $185 million cost estimate which is what Mel Katz predicts, and the $33 million in private donation pledges materializes, the capital project is still $30 million short.

In addition to the gap in funding for capital costs, the project is anticipated to negatively impact the General Fund at least six years after the library is built. This would likely coincide with the same period that General Fund pension costs are expected to nearly double from the current payment amount of $125 million to $240 million.

Library boosters claim that the redevelopment dollarscan \u201ft be used for anything else. This is false. If the main library project is halted indefinitely, $63 million of redevelopment funds could be used for downtown public infrastructure and neighborhood improvements including sidewalks, street lights, medians, ADA projects; the C Street Corridor Master Plan; and the North Embarcadero Visionary Plan. These alternative capital projects could be funded with no negative impact to the General Fund.