San Francisco Spends $1.7 Million On A Single Toilet

San Francisco Spends $1.7 Million On A Single Toilet

Trevor Schakohl on October 19, 2022

California has granted $1.7 million in funding toward one public toilet in San Francisco, according to San Francisco Chronicle columnist Heather Knight.

Democratic State Assemblymember Matt Haney attained $1.7 million in state funds for the toilet in the city’s Noe Valley Town Square, which he claimed matched the standard single public bathroom rate given by the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department, Knight reported. The facility is projected to be finished in 2025.

“I didn’t have the option of bringing home less of the bacon when it comes to building a toilet,” Haney said, according to Knight. “A half a toilet or a toilet-maybe-someday is not much use to anyone.”

The Recreation and Parks Department and Department of Public Works said the generally high price of San Francisco construction is partly responsible for the toilet’s high price tag, with recent increasing building costs partly spurred by global supply chain problems contributing, Knight reported. The toilet’s yet-to-be completed architectural design will be opened to community response and examined by the Arts Commission’s Civic Design Review committee before the Recreation and Parks Commission and the Board of Supervisors review the project.

The departments’ statement noted that Public Works’ cost estimates “don’t just reflect the price of erecting structure,” according to Knight.

A city statement called $1.7 million an “extremely rough” price projection, preparing for possible complications including “the onerous demands and unpredictable costs” brought forward by the Pacific Gas and Electric Co., which San Francisco has accused of slowing projects and spurring price increases.

A SF Next poll released last monthfoundtwo-thirds of respondents claiming San Francisco “had gone downhill” since their arrival, with more than 40% suggesting they would move away within the next three years.

San Francisco Mayor London Breed’s office did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.