Mayor London Breed introduced the city's highest-ever $14.6 billion budget Wednesday, which despite a $780 million deficit, has big spending increases for police, homelessness, and anti-drug measures.

We learned in December that the City and County of San Francisco is back in deficit times again, and as such, Mayor London Breed ordered across-the-board budget cuts. But those cuts aren’t across-the-board anymore, as the Chronicle reports Breed unveiled her proposed city budget for the next two fiscal years, and it involves hefty increases in the amount of money the city spends on police and public health efforts.

At $14.6 billion, it is the largest San Francisco city budget ever proposed.

“We have closed a significant budget deficit while still focusing on ensuring our City is safe, clean, and vibrant,” Breed said in an announcement of the budget. “Through continued hard work and collaboration across City departments and community partners, we will move San Francisco forward.”  

Yes, we have “closed” the budget deficit, as tax revenue has grown, But we have not eliminated that deficit, and the new budget has significant increases for the police department and public health measures.

The SF Police Department is getting a $60 million boost in this proposed budget, which among other things, hopes to add 220 new officers. And the supervisors may balk at that, considering they just handed the department another $25 million in extra overtime money barely two months ago.

The budget does not include more information about Breed’s recently announced plan to arrest people who are high on drugs in public, even though Breed’s office said last week the budget would contain more detail about that pilot program.

The other big spending hikes are on homelessness and drug use. The homelessness budget was raised by 3%, to almost $700 million. There are also increases for substance-abuse treatment programs, though the giant settlements with Walgreens and others in the opioid business will help pay for that.

Breed also proposed a series of tax cuts and breaks to create incentives for businesses in a downtrodden downtown, and to fill retail vacancies.

If you’re a hardcore policy wonk, you can read Breed’s entire 361-page budget online. The SF Board of Supervisors must approve the budget over the course of this summer, and Breed is expected to sign it by August 1.

Related: Deficit Times Again? Mayor Breed Says SF Looking At $728 Million Budget Shortfall [SFist]

Image: Mayor London Breed via Youtube

SF has gone from a $650 million deficit, to a $108 million surplus, and now back to a $728 million deficit, all in less than two years, and Mayor Breed is ordering department heads to slash their budgets ASAP.

Back in Year One of the COVID-19 pandemic, when no one was working and we were all sitting home terrified, the Chronicle reported that in December 2020, the city learned it “could face another $653.2 million deficit over the next two years.” But come Uncle Joe Biden’s gigantic 2021 stimulus package windfall, that turned into a $108 million surplus. Nothin’ but blue skies from now on, right?

Guess again. The stimulus money was a mirage-y bandage on our budget woes, as KPIX reports, San Francisco is now looking at a $728 million deficit in the two-year budget. Or to be more precise, KPIX says it’s a “$200 million deficit in the first year and a $527 million deficit in the second year” of the coming budget cycle.

It’s not as if the city is broke, and frankly, plenty of cities would trade fiscal places with us in a second. “This is out of an annual general fund budget of approximately $6.8 billion,” as Breed's office explains in a lengthy statement that is far more detailed than the tweets embedded in this post. “The shortfall is the result of slowed revenue growth, specifically the City’s largest tax revenues that include property and business tax, and loss of temporary federal COVID-19 funding.”

So some perspective; a $728 million deficit sounds (and is!) big, but when you’re sitting on a $6.8 billion general fund, it’s not existential crisis territory. But certainly some belt-tightening is going to be required.

“To help address this shortfall, the Mayor instructed departments to propose reductions of approximately 5% in the first year and 8% in the second year from their General Fund budgets,” the Mayor’s Office statement continues. “Additionally, she directed department heads to prioritize filling vacant positions for core City services that will support San Francisco’s recovery.”

The Mayor’s Office adds that we have not seen a deficit of larger than $600 million “since around the time of the Great Recession over a decade ago.” And we got through that one. Still, fair or unfair, Breed’s opponents will indeed jump on how she “blew a $100 million surplus.” But Breed is not up for reelection until 2024, the end of this budget cycle (ironically, thanks to Supervisor Dean Preston). So she may be able to bill herself in a reelection campaign as the mayor who solved a $728 million deficit.

Related: Stimulus Package Solves SF's $650M Budget Problem [SFist]

Image: @SFCity_Hall via Twitter

SF Mayor London Breed and the Board of Supervisors announced Wednesday that they had reached a deal on a $13 billion budget for the new fiscal year which begins Thursday, July 1 — and it includes another $32 million for the city's rent-relief program.

"I’m proud that we’ve reached an agreement on a budget that will tackle the challenges confronting this city — to make historic investments in homelessness and mental health, to support our most vulnerable, to keep people safe, and to prioritize our economic recovery with a focus on lifting up all San Franciscans,” Breed said in a statement. "I’m proud that we were able to work with the Board of Supervisors to put forward a budget that will benefit our city and our residents as we emerge from this pandemic."

"This past year has been incredibly hard for our residents, small businesses and workers," said Supervisor Matt Haney, who chairs the board's Budget Committee, in his own statement. "This budget agreement will prioritize their recovery, safety, health, and wellbeing and put our city on a path to come back even better."

Supervisor Dean Preston told KPIX that it was down to the wire in Tuesday's budget negotiations that they hammered out a deal to fund the rent-relief program for another 3,500 renters behind on rent. There is also an additional $16 million in the budget to fund the city's tenants' right-to-counsel program.

"We got a brief reprieve, but we are three months from another eviction cliff," Preston said, referring to the new September sunsetting of the state's eviction moratorium — though the city has extended its eviction moratorium through December 31.

The new budget includes Breed's previously announced $1 billion allocation for homeless services and housing — and it continues the city's investments in the COVID-19 response and recovery, including public safety, mental health care, housing, and homelessness prevention and transitional housing programs.

The $13.6 billion FY2020-2021 budget that runs out on June 30 was not ultimately signed by Mayor Breed until October of last year, and it included a $120 million disinvestment in law enforcement, with that money being reinvested in the city's African American community. It is not clear whether any more funds have been allocated to the SFPD in the new budget, after Breed has announced new programs in recent months to increase police foot patrols in the Tenderloin and downtown — in addition to adding new crisis and non-crisis response teams made up of unarmed EMTs and social-work professionals.

City officials had previously announced that anticipated budget cuts did not have to occur thanks to a surprise $157 million budget surplus thanks to better-than-expected property and transfer-tax revenue.

Photo: Gordon Mak

SF Mayor London Breed announced her $13 billion budget Tuesday, with a surprise $157 million surplus, and a billion-dollar pledge to housing the homeless population.

It was just seven months ago that San Francisco was looking at a $1.5 billion budget deficit, and the unattractive options of laying off city employees, or just not giving anyone raises anymore, and the inevitable slashing of public services. But things have gotten a hell of a lot better over the last seven months! Biden’s stimulus package pretty much wiped out our deficit overnight, and the state of California is suddenly throwing surplus money around around like mad, and that largesse has bailed San Francisco out of deficit times.

Critics could argue that Breed had nothing to do with either of these developments, but she was in office when they happened, and she will get credit for steering the city through this unpleasantness. Hence the mayor was in quite a celebratory mood Tuesday afternoon when she announced a $13 billion budget, which the Chronicle points out features a historically large $1 billion to fight homelessness.  

You can watch her speech above, which in true SFGovTV fashion, starts with 18 minutes of dead air. When Breed does take the stage at Willie ‘Woo Woo’ Wong Playground in Chinatown, it is no accident that she appears in front of the largest in-person crowd we’ve seen for any official government address since the start of the pandemic.

“At least 80% of eligible people have been vaccinated,” she announced, referring to the SF vaccination rate (and those are first-dose numbers, but the fully vaccinated rate is still an impressive 66%.) “I can finally declare with pride and confidence that we are literally out of the woods — but keep your mask on.”

And amidst the justified joy over the city reemerging from shut-in COVID morbidity, Breed had welcome budget news too. “We are announcing we’ve officially balanced our latest two-year budget,” she said, on the heels of the Examiner’s mid-May news that the city now has a $157 million surplus.

This being San Francisco, City Hall will have no problem spending it. And the landmark news here is how, with the billion-dollar commitment (over the next two years), SF is fighting homelessness. Breed proposed 6,000 new housing placements within the next year through the purchase of more shelter-in-place hotel-style arrangements, new RV housing sites, and of course the old bus-ticket-out-of-town strategy.

“Yes, this is a historic investment for our city, but we have to be honest with ourselves,” she said. “If we’re going to see change on our streets, it takes more than money. We also have to have the will to make the change.”

Breed’s budget does not defund the police, and apparently funds them more, as she noted the city loses 80 officers per year. “In this budget, we are proposing two police academy classes to keep our ranks stable,” she said, adding the department is getting more diverse, with sizable increases in officers of color.  She also spoke to some manner of Office of Justice Innovation, which was not particularly fleshed out, and added there would be more street crisis response teams.

We would not be back in surplus times without all that cash from the state and the feds, and Breed played the loyal Democrat by name-checking all benefactors. She thanked “Gavin Newsom, who has led California and delivered for our workers and our small businesses and our most vulnerable residents through programs like Project Homekey. And thanks to the American Rescue Plan put forward by our president Joe Biden, our vice president Kamala Harris, and the speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, we don’t have a crushing budget deficit. Thanks to all those folks.”

The rest of the speech was the potpourri you’d expect; acknowledging small business’ struggles, condemning the attacks on Asian elders, talking up overdose prevention and the fentanyl menace. But it was a speech, it was not a set of numbers submitted on paper. And her budget does have to go through the Board of Supervisors, so there will likely be some drama there.

Breed did apply a mild nudge in that regard. “After we get this budget passed and we move these dollars into action, we are going to see real change, and things are going to look better and brighter than even before the pandemic,” Breed said, adding that she was “Looking forward to seeing this budget pass through the Board of Supervisors.”

Related: Breed Says She'll Veto Free Muni [SFist]

Image: Mayor London Breed via Youtube

SFPD and the sheriff’s department get defunded by the tune of $120 million in Mayor Breed’s just-announced, $26 billion two-year budget.

The dual crises of the COVID-19 pandemic and continuing unrest over police brutality are two separate problems, but San Francisco mayor London Breed sees one as presenting a potential solution for the other. The post-George Floyd calls for defunding the police may be a fiscally convenient way for San Francisco to close its $1.5 billion deficit, which can’t just spiral upward forever, because the city is required by law to pass a balanced budget each year.

Mayor London Breed just launched the first salvo in deflating the ballooning coronavirus budget shortfalls. The Examiner reports that Breed’s newly unveiled 2020-21 and 2021-22 budgets cut $125 million from law enforcement to make up for a spike in public health costs and the ongoing decimation of local tourism and hospitality industries, and the loss of tax revenue that represents.

Breed proposed her new budget Friday morning at 11:30 a.m., and the speech is already up on Youtube and Twitter, wherein she gets down to business at the 1:03 mark, with a statement not unlike the “My Plans vs. 2020” meme. “At the beginning of this year, we were living in a different world,” she said. “Our unemployment rate was at a historic low. Tourism was at an all-time high. Our hotels were full. We all had plans to shape the future of this city we all love. I know I had plans.

“What we didn’t have plans for was the coronavirus — but it certainly had plans for us.”

Breed’s biggest deficit-busting strategy is to not give raises to city employees for the next two years. But as the Chronicle points out, this represents $250 million in pay raises for more than 37,000 unionized workers, so this will be no easy political feat. She connects it to a soft ultimatum that she then wouldn’t have to resort to layoffs or service cuts. “I don’t think this is too much to ask. The entire city is suffering right now,” Breed said.

But the biggest cuts are to the law enforcement departments, with a proposed slashing of $40 million a year from SFPD and $20 million a year from the sheriff’s department, totaling $120 million over two years. Most of these cuts would be enacted through just not filling 120 currently open officer positions. But other savings would come from canceling purchases of what Breed called “military grade equipment,” and the already stated goal of removing police from non-criminal call responses.

But the thing about budgets is that they’re just guidelines. For one, this budget is freshly introduced, and her rivals on the Board of Supervisors have not yet had at it. Moreover, the budget relies on a clean sweep of San Francisco voters approving business tax hikes on the November ballot. And that may happen; it's generally politically popular in San Francisco to raise taxes on large companies, perhaps especially so now.  But freezing the pay of some 37,000 city workers may prove less popular, and could freeze relations with some segments of Breed's traditional supporters.

Related: London Breed Issues Letter to Mike Pence Calling Administration Response to Virus 'Anemic' [SFist]

Image: Screenshot via Youtube

San Francisco's liberal bubble is potentially facing serious strains under the looming presidency of Donald Trump. As we noted earlier, and as the Chronicle reports again, if the president-elect follows through on his promise to deny federal funding to Sanctuary Cities, then SF may lose up to $1 billion per year and would be forced to rethink some of its budget decisions. Items we now learn are potentially on the chopping block include the Twitter tax break, proposed free tuition for City College, and the city's newly voted obligation to maintain street trees.

Making matters worse, a projected $5 billion shortfall in pension funds and the failure of voters to pass Proposition K mean that even if Trump doesn't pull federal funds we're still looking at some belt tightening. “The city is in a strong financial position, and the mayor is committed to remaining disciplined when it comes to the budget,” mayoral spokesperson Deirdre Hussey told the Chronicle. “However, the city’s revenue growth is slowing and pension costs have risen in recent years faster than projected. ... These things combined make it essential for policy makers to rebalance the budget.”

And that rebalancing might just manifest in a few surprising ways. First off, the promises of free tuition at City College may never come to pass. Remember Prop W? That measure increased the real estate transfer tax on both residential and commercial properties worth over $5 million, with supporters saying the tax revenue would go toward tuition. However, as we pointed out at the time, those revenues are slated to go into the General Fund and are not earmarked for City College. As such, the city can spend that money on whatever it wants — political promises not withstanding. A non-binding resolution was passed by the Board of Supervisors in July saying that money would be used for City College, but officials are now considering directing those dollars elsewhere.

And what about the sidewalk tree maintenance? Prop E, mandating that the city take back responsibility for street trees, passed in the November election with 79 percent of the vote — so what gives? Well, the measure included a provision that allows the Mayor to suspend it before January 1 of this year — meaning Mayor Lee can undo it with the stroke of a pen.

In addition, revenue generated by the Soda Tax may not go to heath programs as original promised, but instead be used to fund homeless services such as Navigation Centers.

As for the Twitter Tax break? Supervisor Aaron Peskin finally sees a chance to do away with that one. Having co-sponsored a failed payroll tax earlier this year that some called the "tech tax," it is perhaps no surprise that Peskin would see this expected budget shortfall as an opportunity to claw back the roughly $34 million annually in lost taxes.

With a city budget of $9.6 billion, larger than that of 13 states, San Francisco is certainly better positioned than other cities to weather the coming Trump storm. What priorities are tossed overboard in the next few years will be revealing, however, and may just prove that our liberal bubble is not as thick as we all might have hoped.

Related: Trump May Cut Off San Francisco's Federal Funding For Being A Sanctuary City

As opposed to the calendar year that we all recognize as beginning on January 1, San Francisco's fiscal year begins anew on July 1 of every year. And though the revelry that one sees on December 31 is absent on June 30, some city employees had a lot to celebrate this year, as a record-topping number of them took home pay and benefits in the 2015-2016 fiscal year that topped $300,000.

Loyal SFist readers already know that $4.7 billion of San Francisco's $9.6 billion budget is devoted to city worker salaries and benefits. And now, with data on last fiscal year's city worker salaries now available on the Nevada Policy Research Institute's public employment compensation database, we learn that a "record number," per Matier and Ross, of San Francisco's city and county staffers made, with benefits and overtime, well over $300K.

But though overtime was often the reason a comparatively modest staffer's compensation might skyrocket, that's not always the case: See, for example, the city's best paid staffer William J. Coaker Jr., the chief investment officer for SF's retirement system. With a base pay of $507,831.60 and benefits of $125,891.73, he clocks in at a cool $633,723.33 per annum — almost $150K more than SF's second-highest grosser, Assistant Medical Examiner Ellen G. Moffatt , who between her $279,311.10 salary, $3,829.36 in OT, $114,433.58 in "other pay," and $72,446.93 in benefits pulled down $470,020.97 last year.

You can investigate all of SF's city worker salaries here, but here's a rundown of San Francisco's sizable $300K-plus club. Enjoy!

Previously: San Francisco's City Worker Salaries, By The Numbers

You already know that San Francisco has a $9.6 billion budget — "more than the budgets of 13 states and scores of countries around the world," the Chron notes. As reported earlier this year, the current budget sees increases for things like homeless services, transportation, increased library hours and more street cleaning. But underlying all that are the salaries of the people ostensibly performing those tasks — the street cleaners, the librarians, and everyone else. There are a lot of them! Let's take a look at the numbers.

• $4.7 billion: The portion of SF's $9.6 billion budget devoted to city worker salaries and benefits
• 30,626: The number of San Francisco city workers
• 28: The number of SF residents there are to every one city worker
• $108,774: The average annual SF city worker salary
• $49,864: The average annual amount paid out per city worker in benefits, including "medical, dental and vision care and pension contributions"
• $49,270: The salary of a "starting custodian" in SF
• $44,798: The salary of a "starting junior typist" in SF (messages to City Hall officials to figure out exactly what that job would entail in 2016 were not returned at publication time)
• $302,400: The salary of San Francisco's mayor
• $311,194: The salary of San Francisco's fire chief
• $316,732: The salary of San Francisco's chief of police
• 4,500: The number of city worker job positions added during Mayor Ed Lee's tenure in office: "More than 300 people to the Police Department, 1,000 people to Muni and 1,100 people to the Department of Public Health. He’s added a few dozen apiece to the libraries and parks, and 13 to his own staff," the Chron reports
• $1.2 billion: SF's budget in 1989, which according to usinflationcalculator.com equals $2,328,841,935.48 today

Update: SFMTA Transportation Planner Jerad Weiner writes in to offer this link for San Francisco's "Junior Clerk Typist" position, saying "We still type in 2016, I hope, or I'm way behind the times." I love that the job description includes "operating personal computer"!

All facts and figures: Billions of dollars flow to SF’s army of city workers, SF Chronicle, August 27, 2016.

Previously: Mayor Ups Proposed Budget To $9.6 Billion With Emphasis On Cleanliness, Homelessness Spending

For the fiscal year starting on July 1, Mayor Lee has proposed that San Francisco's budget increase, mostly on the back of property taxes, by around $700 million to reach $9.6 billion. That's billion with a "B," people.

The Examiner reports that this budget provides for new quality of life improvements like increased library hours and more street cleaning. The paper reminds us that our local budget is proposed in two-year increments, and as such, included in the proposal is a $9.7 billion budget for 2017-2018.

Within the Mayor's proposed budget, more spending is allotted for homelessness — $32 million more than this past year, to be precise, with that money headed to the new Department of Homelessness. That and more funds come from a .75 percent increase in the sales tax, with a half-cent of it going to transportation and a quarter cent of it going to homelessness relief efforts. The .75 percent increase in sales taxes would replace a .5 percent increase in sales tax expiring in December, and relies on the assumption that voters approve the increase. The budget will be reviewed by the Board of Supervisors, who will make adjustments to it and vote on it.

Meanwhile, at the request of Supervisor Farrell, the city's Budget and Legislative Analyst's Office has released a report detailing the impacts of supportive housing on the total cost to the city of homeless adults. As the Chronicle explains it, the report followed nearly 2,000 homeless adults from 2007 and 2008 who entered into supportive housing in 2010 and 2012, showing what the city spent on them in 2014 and 2015 versus when they initially found housing. First, when they entered housing, costs increased dramatically for them as they availed themselves of medical treatment (a 199 percent increase in the costs of emergency care and an 85 percent increase in the costs of behavioral health services). That was a watershed, however, with costs falling following that initial spike.

“It is incredibly expensive for the city of San Francisco to treat our homeless population on the streets,” Supervisor Farrell concluded. “And, first and foremost for their own health, but also for the financial health of our city, it is in the best interest of everyone to get them in some form of housing or services.”

Related: Mayor Calls For Budget Cuts Amid $100 Million City Deficit

On Monday, SF Mayor Ed Lee presented his proposed two-year balanced budget for Fiscal Year 2014-15 and 2015-16. It now heads to the Board of Supervisors for their approval (or lack thereof). Here are some of the figures in that budget, for your approval (or lack thereof).

• $4.2 billion: San Francisco's budget in 1999
• $7.9 billion: Last year's budget
• $8.6 billion: The proposed annual budget for fiscal years 2014-15 and 2015-16
• 1,400: The number of new city employees proposed
• 300: The number of new cops to be hired
• 96 The number of new firefighters to be hired
• 150: The number of new public health workers to be hired
• 196: The number of new Muni staffers to be hired
• 29,086: The total number of city workers proposed for 2015
• $239 million: The increase in city worker payroll over the next two years
• $135 million: The amount of money to be spent on public schools for the next two years
• 500: The number of new kindergarten slots to be funded by this budget
• $14 million: The amount of money budgeted for affordable housing last year
• $94 million: The amount to be spent on affordable housing over the next two years
• $19.5 million: The amount of money SF had set aside for a local renewable energy program that Mayor Lee plans on diverting elsewhere
• 1.5%: The bump in funding for for nonprofits that receive over $500 million in annual city contracts

All figures from S.F. mayor calls for huge boost in affordable housing funds, SF Chronicle, June 2, 2014
You can read the full budget documents here.

That rumbling over the sky each October won't be heard this year as the Blue Angels will not fly Fleet Week 2013. Budget cuts, it seems, is the issue here. The air acrobats will continue to train "to maintain flying proficiency" until further notice at their Pensacola, Florida headquarters.

"Recognizing budget realities, current Defense policy states that outreach events can only
be supported with local assets at no cost to the government," the U.S. Navy said in a press release. "This is one of many steps the Navy is taking to ensure resources are in place to support forces operating forward now and those training to relieve them."

Despite budget cuts, the Navy plans to continue performing dazzling ariel tricks in the future, provided the money situation improves.

The Blue Angels, if you recall, prompted some controversy in the San Francisco, especially with left-leaning politicos. Former Supervisor Chris Daly (working with Code Pink, Global Exchange, and Veterans for Peace) once proposed a non-binding resolution to ban the flight team in 2007.

Also, back in 2009, SFist interviewed Blue Angels pilot Lt. Mark Swinger. When asked whether or not the Blue Angel pilots get respect within the Navy, Swinger replied, "When I was on the other side, I always made fun of the Blue Angels because of these tight blue flight suits. We’re just air show guys."

Short Answer: Yes, but nobody's happy about it.

Long Answer: Democrats in the state legislature sent Jerry Brown a budget plan that closed the $9.6 billion gap last night, but it still hinges on $4 billion in revenue that may or may not come through. The plan was passed on majority-vote authority by the Democrats after a couple senators tried to hold out for a deal that didn't cut redevelopment agencies. When faced with the prospect of losing more money from their own pockets, the Calicrats pushed the deal through to Gov. Brown a few hours before midnight last night.

The main developments in the deal include restructuring the prison system as well as the 400 redevelopment agencies in the state. If that $4 billion in potential (but not guaranteed) revenue doesn't show up, $2.5 billion in additional cuts will kick in and draw funds away from schools, the UC system and other programs. It will also allow school districts to cut 7 days off of the school year.

For Brown, agreeing to a deal with more cuts to spending is a bit of triage. He still hasn't been able to cut a deal with Republicans in order to put his tax measure on the ballot, but it is looking increasingly likely that Brown will put that matter before voters on a ballot initiative.

Assemblyman Bob Blumenfield, the Democrat chair of the Budget Committee, called the plan "making the best out of a bad situation." But critics on the right were a little more harsh, calling it a "hope-without-change budget" and wondering why the state continues to ask voters for additional revenues if Dems were suddenly able to find the funds to make up the deficit we started the year with.

[SacBee]
[CBS5]
[KTVU]

Hot on the heels of news that San Francisco USD will be laying off 139 educators at the end of the school year, comes a report from Sacramento that over two dozen teachers were arrested at the Capitol last night after they refused to leave the building as part of a demonstration against education cuts in the state budget. California Teacher's Association President David Sanchez, who led the group, told the press he was willing to be arrested, "to let the public understand the seriousness, the state of emergency that California public schools are under right now."

The group of teachers, some traveling from as far as Los Angeles, protested and chanted outside the offices of Senate Minority Leader Bob Dutton and Assembly Minority Leader Connie Conway (both Republicans), before obediently forming a single-file line to receive their plastic handcuffs. The protests are part of weeklong demonstrations. On Monday another 65 protestors were also arrested after refusing to leave the state Capitol.

[AP/KTVU2]