Board approves $8.7 million for elections; $3.25 million for school district remains contested after lengthy debate

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors approved on first reading an $8,700,000 supplemental appropriation on Dec. 14 to provide the Department of Elections authority to spend additional funds to prepare for extraordinary elections in early 2022. The board split the larger $11.95 million package after extended debate over whether $3.25 million of the total should be used to cover the San Francisco Unified School District’s share of recall-election costs.

The $8.7 million item, described by Controller Ben Rosenfield and the mayor’s budget team as necessary to give the elections office time to hire contractors and ramp up operations, passed on a separate vote that the board later recorded as unanimous. The remaining $3,250,000 — which the mayor framed as covering part of the school district’s bill for special elections scheduled for February — was the subject of repeated motions to divide, continue and rescind, and drew the most disagreement among supervisors.

Why it matters: Elections departments need…