Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Nonprofit Funding topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Supervisors pass ordinance directing controller to prepare base budgets and require multi‑year nonprofit contracts
Summary
The board passed an ordinance (item 12) directing the city controller to prepare an initial base budget for agencies and requiring departments to enter multi‑year contracts and include anticipated cost increases for nonprofit agreements to reflect inflation.
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed on first reading an ordinance (Item 12) directing the city controller to prepare an initial base budget to guide each city agency's proposed biennial budget and requiring departments to adopt multi‑year grant and contract practices for ongoing services with nonprofit partners. The ordinance passed on first reading on Oct. 17, 2023 by the "same house, same call" procedure recorded in the meeting.
Supervisor Ronan, joined by Supervisors Chan, Mandelmann and Safaie, framed the ordinance as a response to recurring end‑of‑budget negotiations over whether to include cost‑of‑living adjustments for nonprofit contractors. "03:00 in the morning on the last night of the budget, almost every single year, we are battling around this issue," Ronan said, describing how agencies and nonprofits often learn about funding for cost increases at the last minute, which complicates staffing and program planning. Ronan said the ordinance addresses the issue in two ways: requiring multi‑year agreements where services are expected to continue and directing departments to include anticipated cost‑of‑living increases in those contracts.
Supervisor Ronan thanked Controller Ben Rosenfeld and his staff for convening a nonprofit working group and for proposing the two items included in the ordinance; a staff member from Ronan's office, Santiago Lerma, was also credited as working on the legislation.
The language read into the record directs the controller to prepare an initial base budget and asks departments to structure contracts and grants so that anticipated inflation and cost increases to nonprofit service providers are made explicit in multi‑year agreements when the service is ongoing. The ordinance was adopted on first reading; the transcript does not specify a final adoption date or a roll‑call vote for second reading.
Ending: The ordinance aims to reduce last‑minute budget negotiations over nonprofit contract support and to provide nonprofits with more predictable funding for cost increases. The text as read does not specify implementation deadlines or reporting requirements for departments beyond the controller's preparation of the base budgets.
