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SFPD budget briefing: salaries dominate and cuts risk reduced field staffing
Summary
Interim CFO Deborah Landis presented the SFPD 2011–12 budget: a $476 million base with roughly 90% for salaries and fringe. The department is working to meet a mayoral 10% reduction target largely through givebacks and administrative cuts; chief warns deeper contingency could require layoffs and end academy classes.
City and police officials told the commission that most of the San Francisco Police Department budget is personnel costs and that the department must find $8.5 million to meet the mayor’s 10% reduction target after previously returning about 2.5%.
Deborah Landis, interim SFPD chief financial officer, said the department’s base budget for 2011–12 is about $476 million, of which roughly $375 million is general fund. She said about 90% of the budget is salary and benefits; non‑personnel services are roughly $14 million and capital is minimal. The mayor requested a 10% reduction; the department has already returned an initial 2.5% and is looking at $8.5 million more in givebacks, most likely from salaries and benefits. Landis said a draft budget would be provided to the commission on Feb. 16 and the mayor would submit the city budget to the Board of Supervisors on June 1.
Chief Godown told commissioners that the department currently has more than 200 unfilled officer positions, attrition of 6–10 officers per month, and that meeting the first 10% target should be possible without layoffs by cutting administrative positions and trimming costs (take‑home cars, cell phones), but a second 10% contingency would require layoffs and no viable alternative would be available. He described plans to redeploy light‑duty and administrative personnel back into the field where possible and to preserve academy classes if feasible.
Commissioners asked for more specificity about pension‑related costs, historical staffing projections and vehicle condition; the chief supplied vehicle‑age and mileage breakdowns and agreed to report back with clearance‑rate statistics and further pension detail.
