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Finance director: no frontline staffing cuts in mayor—s proposed budget; facilities and equipment funding included
Summary
Mark Corso, the department's deputy director for finance and planning, told the commission the mayor's proposed budget preserved frontline suppression and EMS staffing, included $3 million for equipment and $4.1 million for facilities, and that the department negotiated smaller reductions with Board staff.
Mark Corso, deputy director of finance and planning for the San Francisco Fire Department, told the Fire Commission on Aug. 13 that the Mayor's proposed budget preserved frontline staffing for suppression, EMS and community paramedicine and kept the department's hiring plan intact.
Corso said the proposed budget included an equipment allocation of roughly $3 million and approximately $4.1 million for facilities in the next fiscal year (an increase of about $1.5 million from the prior year). He also described a $500,000 one-time allocation in year two of the proposed budget for a cancer-screening project carried out with labor partners.
Why it matters: Staffing preservation keeps engines and ambulances at planned levels while equipment and facilities dollars address aging apparatus and station infrastructure. Corso cautioned that the overall city budget picture remains constrained and that the department will continue to monitor midyear adjustments and federal funding uncertainty.
Negotiations and reductions
Corso said the mayor—s office submitted a balanced budget to the Board of Supervisors ahead of the charter deadline and that the department engaged the Board—s budget analysts through hearings and meetings. He said the budget and legislative analyst initially proposed about $1.6 million in reductions for the department; after negotiations the agreed reductions declined to about $525,000, including roughly $100,000 shown as a Department of Technology reduction that appears on the fire-department work order. Two vacant civilian positions were deleted as part of the negotiated changes, but Corso said filled positions slated for deletion were restored and no layoffs to filled positions occurred.
Corso emphasized that while the department won protection for frontline staffing in this budget cycle, the city—s structural fiscal pressures mean the department expects ongoing budget engagement and potential midyear actions.
Ending
Commissioners praised the department and finance staff for protecting frontline resources. Corso said the department will continue to meet with the mayor's budget office, the Board of Supervisors and capital planners as the city refines multi-year priorities, including funding for station seismic work discussed elsewhere in the meeting.
