Police commission approves San Francisco Police Department budget for FY2008'2009

The San Francisco Police Commission voted to approve the San Francisco Police Department's budget for fiscal year 2008' 2009 at its Feb. 20 regular meeting. Ken Bukowski, the department's chief financial officer, told commissioners there were no significant changes to materials earlier provided to the commission aside from revisions to vehicle specifications and an effort to use alternative fuels for non-pursuit vehicles when possible.

"There are no, significant changes to the budget materials provided to you last week with the exception of, revising some of the vehicles" Bukowski said, adding staff would "continue looking at if it's possible to get any vehicles with police package that are able to be alternative fuels without voiding the warranty," an issue the department said it was still evaluating.

Commissioner Thomas Mazzucco moved approval of the budget; the motion was seconded and carried without objection. The commission did not provide a roll-call tally in the public record during the meeting. Bukowski requested that the commission move the budget forward to the next stage of the city's review process.

Why it matters: approval of the department budget advances funding for patrol operations, training and equipment for the coming fiscal year. The limited changes described to vehicle specifications could affect procurement choices and claims about warranty compliance; the department said it would seek alternative-fuel options where feasible without voiding vehicle warranties.

Next steps: the budget will proceed to the city's next administrative or legislative review stage as determined by municipal budget procedures.