By Calvin Welch, HANC Board
This month HANC will focus its general membership meeting on the city budget. Three guests will join us to go through the key issues presented by this budget: Supervisor Budget Chair Connie Chan from District 1, Debbi Lerman, Director of the San Francisco Human Services Network, a coalition of some 50 faith and community based non-profit health and human services providers, and Tim Redmond, Editor and Founder of 48 Hills, who has reported on San Francisco politics, including budget politics for some 40 years.
In March, a Joint Report from the Controller, the Supervisors’ Budget Analyst and the Mayor’s Budget Director reported to both the Mayor and the Board that the City's revenue outlook had deteriorated from its initial January report of this year’s projected budget deficit of some $200 million to $290 million and the projected five year deficit to a whopping $1.3 Billion . Last year the Joint Report estimated an $80 million surplus for this year when the City passed its current $13.8 billion budget.
The expected shortfall was reported BEFORE the Mayor proposed and the Supervisors passed a$27 million supplement the Police Department’s current $713 million allocation to cover police overtime AND a new labor contract that will cost the City an additional $167 million over the next 3 years, providing a 10% increase in pay for the police. For every other department the Mayor has asked for a 10% CUT.
As the base of the City's economy has dramatically shifted away from commercial office building in the Central Business District downtown, how the City will shape its budget not only to deal with the shortfall in commercial real estate revenue, but how it plans to address new economic activity is yet to be seen. So far Mayor Breed has only talked about additional tax cuts to businesses to try to entice them once again to return, much as the Plains Indians in the late 19th century danced for days to entice the buffalo to return.
MUNI is on the fiscal ropes facing major revenue shortfalls and it is as yet unclear if the Mayor’s budget will address the need for critical transit funding. Can San Francisco exist without public transit? With Laguna Honda and the public health system under extreme stress, will the Mayor’s budget address increased funding to meet these critical needs?
Our guests will address these issues and more as well as answer your questions. Join us at HANC, Thursday, 11 May at 7 PM. See the adjacent article for instructions on how to join our meeting in-person or online.