San Francisco Fire Commission approves department budget submittal to mayor's office

The San Francisco Fire Commission voted to submit the Fire Department's operating budget for fiscal years 2025'026 and 2026'027 to the mayor's office after a presentation from the department's finance staff and a discussion among commissioners.

Deputy Director of Finance and Planning Mark Corso told the commission the draft submittal is still being finalized but that "there will be no major changes or no major policy changes in our submittal between what we go over today and what we submit next week." He said the department's packet will be submitted to the mayor and controller on Feb. 21 and then reviewed by the mayor's office before the board of supervisors receives the mayor's balanced budget on June 1.

The department framed its proposal around three priorities: maintaining staffing levels and ongoing hiring (including multiple fire academies), addressing an aging fleet, and funding facility repairs. Corso said the citywide budget projection includes a structural shortfall and that departments were asked to identify 15% general fund savings (about $23.1 million for the Fire Department). The department told commissioners it will work with the mayor's office to avoid frontline staffing reductions and to explore alternative funding sources.

Why it matters: Corso told the commission the city faces "a $200 to $876 million deficit over the next two years" and emphasized that large cuts would have direct operational impacts. The department requested continued hiring (two fire academies each fiscal year) to anticipate retirements and preserve minimum staffing. Chief of Department Dean Matthew Crispin and budget staff highlighted urgent fleet and facility needs: a fleet request in the packet totals roughly $82 million to address apparatus and vehicle backlog, and earlier city analyses put deferred facility needs in the hundreds of millions.

The packet includes revenue adjustments the department expects to materialize, including an increase of nearly $4 million tied to state-level supplemental Medicaid reimbursement programs for certain EMS transports. The department also noted an anticipated reduction in some fire-prevention license revenues related to a recently passed city ballot measure (Prop M), which restructures business tax and licensing collection.

The commission moved to approve the submittal and send it to the mayor's office. President Marcy Frasier, Commissioner Steven Nakajo and Commissioner Alan Lowe recorded aye votes; the motion passed.

Next steps: Corso and chief staff said they will continue negotiations with the mayor's office and the controller on technical adjustments, work orders and possible alternative financing (including lease-purchase models and bond options). The mayor's office will reconcile departmental submissions in the coming months and present the mayor's balanced budget to the board of supervisors by June 1, followed by public hearings at the board.

Budget vote at a glance: Motion: Approve and submit the Fire Department's operating budget submittal for FY2025-26 and FY2026-27 to the mayor's office (final technical adjustments to be handled in mayor's phase). Outcome: Approved and sent to mayor's office. Recorded votes in meeting record: Marcy Frasier (yes); Steven Nakajo (yes); Alan Lowe (yes).