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Police CFO warns of $90M–$125M city shortfall; SFPD tasked with $8.84M mid‑year reduction target
Summary
Ken Bukowski, SFPD CFO, told the commission the city faces an estimated $90M–$125M shortfall and that the Mayor's Budget Office has identified $75M of mid‑year reductions across departments; the SFPD's initial mid‑year reduction target is $8.84M, mostly challenging given personnel-driven costs and hiring/requisition constraints.
Ken Bukowski, the department CFO, briefed the commission on Nov. 12 about a developing city fiscal shortfall for the current fiscal year. Bukowski said the Mayor’s Budget Office and Controller estimate a revenue shortfall in the $90 million to $125 million range for fiscal 2008–09 and asked departments to identify about $75 million in mid‑year reductions across city government. For the Police Department, the identified mid‑year reduction target is $8.84 million.
Bukowski explained the department’s general‑fund budget is heavily weighted toward personnel costs, leaving limited non‑personnel dollars (supplies and contracts) to cut. He described a newly instituted requisition review process that requires hiring requests to be approved by the Department of Human Resources, the Mayor’s Budget Director and the Mayor’s Chief of Staff — a step Bukowski said reflects the seriousness of the fiscal situation.
Commissioners questioned whether revenue projections (payroll tax, sales tax and transfer tax) could move materially lower and whether the department should prepare for additional reductions next fiscal year. Bukowski said the Mayor’s office could revisit numbers in January and that departments should avoid late‑year commitments that would increase next‑year costs. He said certain hiring approvals and one‑time costs are being scrutinized and that the department is evaluating all potential savings, including overtime management and reworking work orders with other city departments.
No specific staffing layoffs were announced; Bukowski said the department had not yet discussed concrete staff reductions but was prioritizing positions and would be re-evaluating hiring and costs in the short term. Commissioners requested regular updates as revenue projections change and asked that the budget discussion be scheduled for an upcoming meeting (either Dec. 3 or early January) when mayoral budget instructions are available.
