LAFCO approves $627,833 final budget; SFPUC to carry out green bank and gas‑decommissioning studies

The Local Agency Formation Commission on May 16 approved a final budget and work plan for fiscal year 2025–26 totaling $627,833 and requested the statutory amount of $408,630 from the City and County of San Francisco general fund.

Commissioner Jackie Fielder, chair of the Local Agency Formation Commission, moved to approve the budget; Commissioner Connie Chan seconded. Commissioners Isaac Sevier, Connie Chan and Jackie Fielder voted aye and the motion passed.

The commission’s staff presentation said the adopted budget is unchanged from a draft approved in March except for removal of an addendum tied to a memorandum of understanding with the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission. Khaled Samrai, who presented the budget, said LAFCO confirmed the MOU will not be reinstated and that the SFPUC has agreed to take responsibility for two studies — a natural‑gas decommissioning study and a green banking study — and will report results as part of Clean Power SF updates to LAFCO.

Commissioner Connie Chan questioned the budget tables on the screen and asked multiple times for clarification about prior‑year and current figures, including the proposed and actual totals for fiscal year 2024–25. Samrai told commissioners that final 2024–25 spending had not been finalized because LAFCO was still submitting final work orders to SFPUC before the MOU’s June 30 expiration and that the complete removal of SFPUC funding from the 2025–26 budget left the PUC‑MOU line at zero.

Chan said she was disappointed that the SFPUC had withdrawn from the MOU but acknowledged the agency’s budget constraints. "I want to express my disappointment in SFPUC for not carrying out and honoring this MOU," Chan said, while adding that she understood the decision and hoped the agencies could collaborate again in the future.

A member of the public, Susan Green of the San Francisco Climate Emergency Coalition, told commissioners she supported the city’s Climate Action Plan work and the green bank concept. "We look forward to working with this commission and staff to connect on that in the future," Green said during public comment.

The record of the meeting restated the approved amounts: final budget $627,833 and statutory request $408,630 from the city and county general fund. Separately, the commission also reopened and approved minutes from its March 21, 2025, meeting in a separate recorded vote.

Items listed on the agenda for Clean Power SF updates and other staff reports (agenda items 4, 6, 7 and 8) were continued to a future meeting because of quorum constraints; no substantive action was taken on those items at this session.

Commissioners and staff indicated the SFPUC will report back on the two studies under Clean Power SF updates in future meetings; LAFCO staff will finalize accounting for 2024–25 once SFPUC completes outstanding work orders by the MOU expiration date.