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Budget committee cuts $5 million from SFPD budget; department says it can absorb reductions but hiring is constrained
Summary
Department officials told the Police Commission the budget committee’s measures cut approximately $5 million—mainly from uniform salaries—and removed several civilian positions; the department said no uniform layoffs are expected but no new uniform or civilian hires are budgeted for the coming fiscal year.
Ken Bukowski, the police department’s chief financial officer, told the commission on July 8 that the Board’s Budget Committee passed reductions amounting to about $5,000,000 against the police department budget, primarily through uniform-salary changes.
"The final decisions regarding the police department cuts resulted in approximately $5,000,000 reduction in the police department budget as presented to the committee," Bukowski said. He said most of that savings came from uniform salaries and that, as presented, there is no funding in the 2009–2010 budget for additional academy classes or new uniform staffing beyond refilling critical vacancies.
Bukowski also said a citywide IT consolidation reduced the department’s IT budget by roughly $205,000. He told the commission the department expects to absorb the cuts through reprioritization but warned that further reductions could force layoffs. "The department cannot sustain further reductions unless it's the desire of the Board of Supervisors to see specific layoffs," he said.
The department noted an addition in the proposed budget: funding for an analyst position for the Police Commission, with hiring anticipated to begin Oct. 1. Bukowski also said the department had to delete roughly 48 civilian positions during the budget process because the mayor’s office insisted on removing positions that had been retained on earlier budgets for attrition savings.
Commissioners asked whether any uniform layoffs were planned; Bukowski said there were none currently scheduled. The department urged continued oversight of overtime, because the general-fund overtime budget is tight and exceeding it could require supplemental requests.
Why it matters: The cuts change near-term staffing flexibility and constrain the department’s ability to add new academy classes or civilianize positions. Commissioners asked the department to report further on which previously budgeted positions remain available for future filling and on overtime management.
