San Francisco fire chiefs warn of large budget shortfall; behested-payment bill could let department solicit private apparatus donations

San Francisco Fire Department Chief Dean Crispin told the Fire Commission on April 23 that the department is negotiating with the mayor’s office after receiving new budget instructions that show a potential multi-year shortfall and that staff are seeking alternative revenue to protect staffing, apparatus and facilities. "We have been issued some new instructions that show a potential $916,000 deficit it's a $916,000,000 deficit in the next coming 2 years," Crispin said during his departmental report.

Why it matters: The department’s operating budget is largely salaries and memorandum-of-understanding (MOU) commitments, leaving limited flexibility to absorb cuts. Commissioners and department leaders said preserving staffing is central to public-safety operations; pending legislation to allow "behested payments" could let the department solicit private funds specifically for apparatus, but officials said they will not assume it will produce revenue during negotiations.

Crispin summarized recent department activities and workforce matters: recruitment and candidate screening for an academy (class 130) that will begin selection in the coming weeks with a projected start in July; an H2 academy that has completed testing and will graduate June 6; multiple public events and training exercises including a Fire Ops 101 for elected officials, a helicopter rescue drill with the CHP and mutual-aid deployments to California wildfires. He also noted donations of new turnout bags from the San Francisco Firefighters Cancer Prevention Foundation to isolate contaminated turnout gear.

Commissioners pressed the chief about the budget. Commissioner Lowe asked whether the department could be excluded from a proposed 15% citywide reduction; Crispin said "there is an appetite for that" but negotiations are ongoing. Several commissioners asked for details on the behested-payment legislation (a current waiver to permit soliciting private donations), and Chief Crispin clarified its scope: "It says right in the legislation that it is only for apparatus at this point." Commissioners cautioned that ethics and city-attorney review will be needed before broadening or relying on the measure.

Deputy Chief Sayumi Bridal presented the administrative report, highlighting civilian staffing in finance, HR and support services; homeland-security planning tied to large events; ongoing research and health studies (fuel-pump and nutrition studies comparing older and newer stations); and Behavioral Health Unit operations, which Bridal said are temporarily located in a firehouse while the department seeks a location outside a station. Bridal also reported the investigative-services and support-services work: background investigations for recruits, 130 requests for services initiated in March, and completed service orders addressing plumbing, roofs and other facility needs.

Discussion items and clarifications recorded in the meeting included: - The behested-payment legislation is intended to waive an existing restriction that prevents department heads from soliciting donations; the bill as discussed is limited to apparatus donations and does not yet guarantee any funds. (Chief Crispin, Commissioner Acasio) - The department will not base budget negotiations on a prospective behested-payment waiver and is preparing for budget reductions while pursuing the waiver as a possible supplement. (Chief Crispin) - Behavioral Health Unit (BHU) is operating from a fire station temporarily; the department said it is looking for a site outside a station to increase privacy and sensitivity for members using BHU services. (Deputy Chief Bridal) - The department reported ongoing research results (fuel-pump, nutrition studies) and offered to present findings to the commission in a separate briefing. (Deputy Chief Bridal)

Votes at the meeting included approval of minutes and two procedural votes on closed-session handling. The commission moved into closed session on an item held under the San Francisco Administrative Code and California Government Code; after the closed session the commission reported no action and then voted not to disclose the closed-session discussion.

The department and commissioners said they will continue budget negotiations with the mayor’s office and pursue an ethics and city-attorney review of the behested-payment measure. Several commissioners asked staff to provide additional detail on facilities work, bundling capital projects to reduce costs, and a plan for relocating the BHU out of a firehouse.

A separate public commenter urged the commission to seek guidance on water-sharing rules for the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission in the event of concurrent conflagrations in SFPUC service areas; that comment was recorded during the general public-comment period and forwarded to appropriate agencies.