Republicans Target SF’s Presidio for Tax Cuts, Immigration Crackdown

The federal funds some top Republicans are proposing to revoke from San Francisco’s Presidio are already in use, a Presidio Trust spokesperson said Friday.

The $200 million that the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act granted to help pay for infrastructure renovations is among a 50-page list of potential cost reductions circulating among GOP leaders.

San Francisco Supervisor Stephen Sherrill, whose district includes the 2.5-square-mile park, said the funding was critical to preserve the historic site.

“The bipartisan funding allocated to the Presidio under the Biden administration recognizes its unique contributions to our city and nation,” he said in a statement. “To claw back this investment is not only shortsighted; it is a clear partisan attack on a space that serves as a model for preservation and community-building.”

The recouped funds would be used for a proposed tax cut and bill targeting immigration, both policies Trump promised repeatedly on the campaign trail.

The list claims that the way the transfer of the funds was requested “was not consistent with standard agency practices for selecting priority deferred maintenance projects.”

A spokesperson for the national park said in a Friday email sent to KQED that “the $200M [Inflation Reduction Act] money granted to the Presidio Trust is completely obligated and we’re making progress on the infrastructure projects it is funding.”

The park has had to finance itself since 2013, when the federal government stopped subsidizing its transition from an Army base. In 2021, the Presidio Trust estimated that there was about $470 million worth of deferred maintenance needed.

The funds from the Inflation Reduction Act are being used for the Presidio Forward project, which includes modernizing power and water utilities, expanding the Presidio Tunnel Tops and repaving roads, replanting trees and restoring historic buildings.

When the money was announced in February 2023, Presidio Trust CEO Jean Fraser said the money would help modernize the Presidio’s “Army-era infrastructure” and take the first steps to making it a “zero climate impact” park.

“This critical federal funding will ensure the Presidio’s spectacular front window to the Bay is maintained by renewing and replacing aged utilities and their infrastructure,” Speaker Emirata Nancy Pelosi said in a statement at the time.