San Francisco budget office flags $817.5 million two‑year shortfall; mayor asks for structural cuts

The Budget and Appropriation Committee on April 23 heard a March update to the city and county’s five‑year financial plan that shows an $817,500,000 shortfall over the next two fiscal years and a structural deficit projection of about $1,300,000,000 if current policies remain unchanged.

Mayor’s Budget Director Sophia Kittler summarized the update to Chair Supervisor Connie Chan and the committee, saying the March revisions improve the December outlook by roughly $58,500,000 but still leave “very large structural shortfalls” that will require policy interventions. “This is not a deficit that will solve itself,” Kittler said. “It requires significant policy intervention to rectify.”

The update is a status‑quo forecast prepared jointly by the Mayor’s Budget Office, the Controller’s office and the Budget and Legislative Analyst. It assumes no new federal or state actions and projects revenue changes driven by several specific factors: a positive shift in property tax revenue due to state changes to school funding formulas that return more ERAF dollars to the city; a marked rise in business tax receipts based on…