Newly inaugurated Mayor Daniel Lurie said Thursday he wants to freeze city hiring and new programs — though there are major exemptions and scant details on exactly what departments will be affected.
In light of a historic budget deficit reaching nearly $900 million, Lurie said the city would pause hiring for new positions, except those that are “historically challenging to staff and that directly support public safety and health.”
Additionally, Lurie told department heads to “realign programming and spending” with core priorities, according to a press release, including freezing new contracts and programs.
The mayor’s office did not respond to a list of questions from The Standard about which departments would be exempted from the hiring freeze or the criteria for halting programs and contracts.
Lurie’s decision closely follows directives from former Mayor London Breed, who in December called for 15% spending reductions.
Breed also proposed hiring freezes and the approval of contracts only for organizations that “demonstrate strong outcomes and cost-effectiveness, focused on direct services to clients,” a city presentation said.
Lurie announced the freeze at a crowded meeting Thursday at City Hall, according to a video posted on X that showed dozens of officials in a conference room.
San Francisco is making a comeback, and I intend to put us in the best possible position to drive that growth. Our city is facing a major budget deficit, and today, the era of band-aid solutions is over. We are committed to fiscal discipline, giving San Franciscans the… pic.twitter.com/FwcPSTN34K
— Daniel Lurie 丹尼爾·羅偉 (@DanielLurie) January 9, 2025
The city has approximately 35,000 employees, and salaries and benefits are the biggest line item in the budget. An August estimate of the city’s current $15.9 billion budget shows wages amounting to $6.8 billion, or 43%.
Department heads have until March to draft their budgets for the following year. Lurie will release a finalized city budget in June, and the Board of Supervisors will vote on it in July.
Budget officials have warned that the city’s deficit could grow significantly if federal funds, including hundreds of millions of dollars from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, are cut under the Trump administration. Questions have been swirling about whether the president-elect will withhold federal funding from liberal cities like San Francisco that may not comply with his stricter immigration proposals. Meanwhile, changes to Medicare and Medicaid could challenge the city’s health budgets.
Officials said in December that San Francisco’s total deficit could reach $1.4 billion by 2029.