San Francisco Mayor London Breed released a proposed budget Friday that she hopes will move the city forward.
It's a record $15.9 billion budget proposal from Breed for 2024 through 2025 and $15.5 billion proposed for 2025 through 2026. The 362-page budget report said it would close the nearly $790 million shortfall projected over the next two fiscal years.
Breed’s budget proposal is not a surprise to Debbi Lerman with the People’s Budget Coalition, a broad based group of about 150 community organizations that partner with the city and county. But it doesn’t mean Lerman supports it.
“We knew that this budget was going to be the worst we’d seen in a decade,” she said.
Breed proposes a variety of ways to balance the budget, including the following:
- Limiting the hiring of city workers
- Proposing fee increases
- Drawing on reserve funds for expenses
- Spending less on infrastructure plans
- Cutting some non profit contracts.
Lerman told NBC Bay Area that she was promised a more detailed list on Friday night but it that hasn’t arrived.
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But she added that they know through conversation with the mayor’s budget director, that they will see cuts to outreach and education.
“That was disturbing because we know that those outreach services and education are the things that connect people,” Lerman said. “Nonprofits will get a very small increase this year of only two and a half percent in their contract, which is less than inflation.”
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The proposed budget also means they may not be able to give raises or retain workers. Numbers were a bit clearer at the Young Women’s Freedom Center, which provides services to young women and trans youth who have experienced the juvenile legal and foster care systems.
“We were cut $220,000,” said Julia Arroyo, , executive director of Young Women's Freedom Center. “Our re-entry programming was a really critical part of our model and now, we are left to pick up the pieces.”
Breed released the following statement on Friday:
“In this budget, we made the tough decisions to close our deficit and those are never easy, but we also made the right decision to invest in critical city services our residents expect and deserve. One of the mayor’s key priorities includes expanding law enforcement staffing and delivering new technology.”
San Francisco police chief Bill Scott said on Friday that “the evidence is unequivocal; crime is down in every category this year.” He also thanked Breed for the continued investment.
Some of the San Francisco’s nonprofits said the investment is unfair.
“Arresting people doesn’t help people who have substance use problems or help people who are homeless. it’s the community-based, frontline workers who are helping those folks and that is a big part of public safety too,” Lerman said.
The budget will have to be approved by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, which could take weeks.
