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Mayor warns of $522M–$525M shortfall; asks Police Commission to help find cuts
Summary
At a Feb. 10 Police Commission meeting, the mayor outlined a projected $522.2M–$525M general‑fund shortfall and urged the commission to help identify department savings, proposing options from overtime reductions to wage concessions and part‑time work weeks.
Mister Mayor, addressing the San Francisco Police Commission on Feb. 10, told commissioners the city faces a general‑fund shortfall in the range of $522,200,000 to $525,000,000 and urged all departments and commissions to help find savings.
The mayor said the city’s total budget is about $6.6 billion while the discretionary portion is roughly $1.2 billion. “When I refer to the $522,200,000 shortfall to $525,000,000 shortfall, I reference it as a general fund shortfall that can only be addressed by looking at the revenue and expense ledger of that $1,200,000,000 corpus,” he said.
Why it matters: the mayor framed the police department’s share of discretionary general‑fund resources as constrained by ballot mandates and contract obligations. He told the commission that cuts, wage concessions or other reforms could be necessary and that, with a 30% reduction applied to the department’s discretionary general fund (about $156.6 million in the mayor’s description), the department would need to identify approximately $47 million in savings.
Mayor’s proposed options included targeted wage concessions, a shortened work week (he cited a 37.5‑hour week as an alternative), and layoffs as a last resort. He cautioned that some state and federal revenues that previously helped close budget gaps are not guaranteed in the coming year.
Commissioners asked for concrete scenarios that translate large dollar targets into numbers of officers, furloughs or salary percentages. The mayor and department staff said that some savings could be achieved internally but emphasized that the largest buckets are set by contracts, charter minimums and citywide benefit loadings.
Next steps: the mayor asked the commission to treat the department’s Feb. vote as a starting point for subsequent negotiations and adjustments as the budget moves to the Mayor’s Office and Board of Supervisors. The commission and department staff expected to continue work over the next month and bring a formal submission by the June 1 deadline.
