City Hall’s ‘incredibly hard’ budget is done. Here are the winners and losers

Following months of tough negotiations at City Hall, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved Mayor Daniel Lurie’s $15.9 billion budget, which required major belt-tightening to close a historic $782 million deficit. 

The financial plan reflects some of the most significant cuts to San Francisco’s budget in nearly two decades, when the Great Recession decimated City Hall’s coffers. Lurie, a political neophyte who rose to power on promises to curb irresponsible spending, slashed nonprofit contracts, department budgets, and some city jobs. 

The Board of Supervisors, which added several politically moderate members after last year’s election, navigated tricky waters in an effort to avoid the most painful cuts. Unions and community groups fought back against the austerity measures — to limited success.

Several of the board’s progressive members joined forces with moderates in a 10-1 vote to approve the budget. Lurie has until Aug. 1 to sign it.

Supervisor Connie Chan, who received accolades from the board and Lurie’s office for steering the negotiations as budget chair, said during the vote that the spending plan is not “something we all can fully celebrate.” 

“But we must acknowledge how we have come together despite our differences to meet this moment,” Chan said.

Supervisor Jackie Fielder, a freshman lawmaker who has emerged as the board’s progressive leader, cast the sole “no” vote against the budget, saying it included cuts to programs that serve the city’s most vulnerable.

“For all these reasons, I cannot in good conscience vote in support of this budget,” Fielder said. “And I will be voting no — with disappointment, with frustration, but also with clarity about the kind of city we are fighting to become. We owe our residents more than austerity. We owe them dignity.”

Here’s a look at the winners and losers. 

Lurie entered the mayor’s office as budget cutter-in-chief. He didn’t get everything he wanted in the final budget deal, but the reduced spending is undoubtedly a small win for the mayor.

Lurie’s trims mean less funding for the network of nonprofits that provide a variety of services to San Franciscans. In a hard-fought battle, the mayor successfully diverted some money from a 2018 voter-approved proposition intended for homeless services to instead fund his goal of building shelter beds. Lurie was able to get some of his requested layoffs into the budget amid pushback from certain supervisors and unions.

The mayor continues to face difficult budget years ahead. This year’s blueprint addresses only a portion of San Francisco’s long-standing structural deficit. 

“So, this budget year was incredibly hard,” Lurie’s planning chief, Sarah Dennis Phillips, said in a hearing last week. “Future budget years, probably for the next two years, will continue to be hard.” 

San Francisco’s budget could worsen if President Donald Trump follows through on promises to cut billions of dollars in federal funding to sanctuary cities. 

The biggest winner of this budget season? The cops. 

Lurie followed through on his campaign promise to prioritize public safety by bumping the budgets of several agencies. The San Francisco Police Department received a roughly 3% funding boost to $849 million. The San Francisco Sheriff’s Department, which provides security for the city’s courts and runs jails, received a 7% bump to $345 million. The district attorney’s office got a 3% boost to $96 million.

Those increases prompted Fielder to rip into the mayor at Tuesday’s hearing over his decision to keep law enforcement funding intact while cutting community services. 

“While programs serving immigrants, families, BIPOC and LGBTQ communities were gutted, law enforcement walked away with more money,” Fielder said.

Other departments did not fare as well as those related to public safety.

Notably, the scandal-ridden Human Rights Commission saw its budget hollowed out by more than a third, to $27.9 million. The Department of Police Accountability saw a drop of 5% to $9 million.

Among others that lost significant chunks of their budgets: San Francisco Homelessness and Supportive Housing, the Office of Economic and Workforce Development, and the Ethics Commission. 

One of the fiercest fights to erupt during the budget negotiations was over Lurie’s proposed layoffs. The mayor’s initial budget proposal cut roughly 100 filled positions and more than 1,000 unfilled roles from the city’s payroll — a sliver of the total workforce of 34,800.

The unions came out in force over the last several weeks to defend their workers. Late last month, the board restored funding for 57 filled positions, meaning 40 workers will get pink slips. Roughly 1,300 unfilled positions will be axed.

Nonprofits didn’t fare well in the budget, which reduced city contracts by around $180 million. The cuts will affect numerous departments, including Homelessness and Supportive Housing, Economic and Workforce Development, and the Department on the Status of Women, all responsible for doling out grants to a vast network of local nonprofits.