City budget outlook: finance staff tells Fire Commission of roughly $800 million two-year deficit; departments asked for 10% general-fund reduction

Deputy Director Mark Corso presented the city's budget instructions and timeline to the Fire Commission on Jan. 10, framing the request as part of a multi-year financial plan.

"The joint report projects approximately an $800,000,000 deficit over the next 2 years," Corso told commissioners, and he said the mayor's office has asked departments to identify savings and efficiencies. For the Fire Department specifically, Corso said the requested 10% reduction in general-fund support equates to about $12,240,000, with a 5% contingency equal to roughly $6,120,000.

Corso outlined the process and deadlines: the department must submit budget proposals by Feb. 21; the mayor is required to present a balanced budget to the Board of Supervisors by June 1; and budget hearings and negotiations occur through June and July. He noted the projection's structural drivers — rising salary and benefit costs, reduced one-time revenue sources, and lingering impacts from the COVID revenue drop — and said that even full departmental reductions would not eliminate the projected gap.

Commissioners queried graphs and revenue assumptions, including a decline in transfer taxes shown on the presentation. Corso said some changes reflect volume and valuation shifts in the real-estate market and pointed to other structural pressures such as labor negotiations and rising healthcare costs. He described "accountability and equity" as both a philosophical lens and an operational priority, including auditing aspects of city contracts.

The commission did not vote on budget instructions at the Jan. 10 meeting; Corso said the department-specific budget discussion will continue at subsequent meetings leading up to the Feb. 21 submission deadline.