S.F. budget season expected to be less turbulent
San Francisco Chronicle May 30, 2011 04:00 AM
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Liz Hafalia / The Chronicle
Maxima Simpliciano, 83, listens to a discussion on the budget during the first of Mayor Ed Lee's town hall meetings on the fiscal plan at Tenderloin Community School on March 16.
It's a new budget era in San Francisco - for one year, at least.
Substantial cuts will still be a reality when Mayor Ed Lee rolls out his first budget Wednesday. Just don't expect widespread layoffs, closed fire stations or a month of political jousting between the mayor and the Board of Supervisors, culminating in a late-night budget deal before the fiscal year starts July 1.
Better-than-expected tax revenue in a slowly rebounding economy has blunted the need for the most draconian cuts as the mayor closes a $306 million deficit, city officials say. And "consensus" has been the catchphrase of Lee's first five months in office since the board appointed him to serve out the final year of Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom's term as mayor.
"The big difference is having an interim mayor, a caretaker mayor, who has not created political hurdles in crafting the budget," said Supervisor John Avalos, a former budget committee chair and a member of the board's most liberal faction, which often clashed with Newsom, a San Francisco-style moderate.
"The problem with Gavin Newsom was he rammed things down our throats during budget season," Avalos said.
Newsom defends his budget moves, saying he was trying to get structural reform, like contracting out jail medical services, to safeguard the city's economic health.
With a more moderate board in place, Lee has so far skirted confrontation on budget priorities. He used the last several months to confer with supervisors and hold 10 budget town hall meetings across the city in an effort to reach a broad consensus right out of the gate.
Lee is even taking the symbolic step of presenting his budget to supervisors in the board chambers at City Hall, a custom Newsom had done away with.
"This is the month where it used to be: 'God, I hate the mayor's office,' " Lee said in an interview. "What they're telling me today is: 'Man, it's a pretty good process.' "
Board President David Chiu, who with other supervisors had asked for more collaboration, called it "an extremely different experience."
Ultimately, the proof will be what's in the budget - and how people react to what isn't.
Lee has to close the deficit and present a balanced budget - the current one is $6.6 billion - to the board.
About $71 million in already-found savings and 10 percent cuts to departmental budgets aren't enough to bridge the gap. Even with an additional 10 percent in "contingency" cuts, which some officials warned would mean slashing programs like homeless services and laying off 171 police officers, San Francisco was still looking at a $65 million hole just last month.
Lee called the developments good news but not enough.
"We do have to make some cuts," he said. "At this point, we don't anticipate major layoffs."
Cuts are expected to be broad but not as deep as the contingency plans. Transitional housing for the homeless is expected to get trimmed 10 percent, for example, with support programs for families in crisis cut 20 percent. Co-payments for home health care are expected to go up from $3 to $10, and police academy classes remain on hold, officials said.
Lee is holding talks with police union officials about deferring $14.5 million in pay raises officers are due to start receiving July 1. Forgoing the raises, coupled with the better economy, could avert the layoffs that then-acting Police Chief Jeff Godown warned about in April, the mayor said. He's also in talks with the firefighters union on $9 million in raises their members are due and is seeking concessions from the nurses union.
"Police and fire, we still have numbers ... that they have to help us with," the mayor said before the talks. "But we don't believe that the conversation is any longer that only layoffs can do it."
Lee predicts half those people won't turn out because funding for their programs is set.
"I think we've got maybe four-fifths of the budget solved," Lee said.
Rather than the bare-knuckle political fights over the budget under Newsom - where the mayor and the board's progressives both used ballot measures as bargaining chips - Lee said his budget won't include proposals that face instant opposition.
The new budget approach may be short-lived, though. Lee took the mayor's job pledging that he wouldn't run for a full term in November. He also has incentive to work with supervisors that the next mayor may not, because Lee needs board confirmation to get his old job back as city administrator.
"I'm trying it out," Lee said of his budget style, "to see if it works better."
Substantial cuts will still be a reality when Mayor Ed Lee rolls out his first budget Wednesday. Just don't expect widespread layoffs, closed fire stations or a month of political jousting between the mayor and the Board of Supervisors, culminating in a late-night budget deal before the fiscal year starts July 1.
Better-than-expected tax revenue in a slowly rebounding economy has blunted the need for the most draconian cuts as the mayor closes a $306 million deficit, city officials say. And "consensus" has been the catchphrase of Lee's first five months in office since the board appointed him to serve out the final year of Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom's term as mayor.
"The big difference is having an interim mayor, a caretaker mayor, who has not created political hurdles in crafting the budget," said Supervisor John Avalos, a former budget committee chair and a member of the board's most liberal faction, which often clashed with Newsom, a San Francisco-style moderate.
"The problem with Gavin Newsom was he rammed things down our throats during budget season," Avalos said.
Newsom defends his budget moves, saying he was trying to get structural reform, like contracting out jail medical services, to safeguard the city's economic health.
With a more moderate board in place, Lee has so far skirted confrontation on budget priorities. He used the last several months to confer with supervisors and hold 10 budget town hall meetings across the city in an effort to reach a broad consensus right out of the gate.
Lee is even taking the symbolic step of presenting his budget to supervisors in the board chambers at City Hall, a custom Newsom had done away with.
"This is the month where it used to be: 'God, I hate the mayor's office,' " Lee said in an interview. "What they're telling me today is: 'Man, it's a pretty good process.' "
Board President David Chiu, who with other supervisors had asked for more collaboration, called it "an extremely different experience."
Ultimately, the proof will be what's in the budget - and how people react to what isn't.
Lee has to close the deficit and present a balanced budget - the current one is $6.6 billion - to the board.
About $71 million in already-found savings and 10 percent cuts to departmental budgets aren't enough to bridge the gap. Even with an additional 10 percent in "contingency" cuts, which some officials warned would mean slashing programs like homeless services and laying off 171 police officers, San Francisco was still looking at a $65 million hole just last month.
Surplus over projections
But the fiscal picture has brightened in recent weeks, with the city controller reporting an almost $47 million surplus over budget projections thanks to unforeseen increases in tax revenue, primarily from the sale of large commercial property. The city also expects an extra $15 million in property tax revenue not included in the report, Deputy City Controller Monique Zmuda told the board's budget committee May 18.Lee called the developments good news but not enough.
"We do have to make some cuts," he said. "At this point, we don't anticipate major layoffs."
Cuts are expected to be broad but not as deep as the contingency plans. Transitional housing for the homeless is expected to get trimmed 10 percent, for example, with support programs for families in crisis cut 20 percent. Co-payments for home health care are expected to go up from $3 to $10, and police academy classes remain on hold, officials said.
Lee is holding talks with police union officials about deferring $14.5 million in pay raises officers are due to start receiving July 1. Forgoing the raises, coupled with the better economy, could avert the layoffs that then-acting Police Chief Jeff Godown warned about in April, the mayor said. He's also in talks with the firefighters union on $9 million in raises their members are due and is seeking concessions from the nurses union.
"Police and fire, we still have numbers ... that they have to help us with," the mayor said before the talks. "But we don't believe that the conversation is any longer that only layoffs can do it."
Ending instant opposition
Lee also hopes to dramatically reduce the "addback" process, which occurs when the board's budget analyst, Harvey Rose, finds savings in the mayor's budget. Hundreds of advocates, city employees and nonprofit staff then stream into City Hall, forecasting doom if their funding is cut. Supervisors then restore money to programs they support.Lee predicts half those people won't turn out because funding for their programs is set.
"I think we've got maybe four-fifths of the budget solved," Lee said.
Rather than the bare-knuckle political fights over the budget under Newsom - where the mayor and the board's progressives both used ballot measures as bargaining chips - Lee said his budget won't include proposals that face instant opposition.
The new budget approach may be short-lived, though. Lee took the mayor's job pledging that he wouldn't run for a full term in November. He also has incentive to work with supervisors that the next mayor may not, because Lee needs board confirmation to get his old job back as city administrator.
"I'm trying it out," Lee said of his budget style, "to see if it works better."
This article appeared on page C - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle
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