Fire Commission approves SFFD capital, IT and fleet submittals for committee review

The San Francisco Fire Commission voted unanimously on Jan. 10 to approve the San Francisco Fire Department—s budget submittals for capital, information technology and fleet for referral to the city—s review committees.

Director Mark Corso told commissioners the department proposed $33,407,981 for capital projects in fiscal 2018–19 and $53,342,979 for the following year, $1,251,400 for IT projects and $36,480,630 specifically for fleet. Corso said the capital requests cover facility maintenance, targeted "focus scope" work and station projects, and exclude projects expected to be funded through existing bond programs.

The commission chair and members pressed Corso on timing and process: capital requests are vetted by the Capital Planning Committee, IT requests go to the Committee on Information Technology (COIT), and fleet proposals are coordinated with the mayor—s office and city administrator before the mayor—s June 1 transmittal. Corso said submittals were due Jan. 12 and the committees develop funding scenarios that feed into the mayor—s proposed budget.

Commissioners also asked for realistic expectations about how much of the request will be funded. Corso estimated, based on recent allocations, that only a small portion (roughly 3–10 percent) might be funded for general facility needs in the near term, and stressed the department still faces a multi‑hundred‑million‑dollar backlog of deferred facility repairs.

The motion to approve the submissions was made by Commissioner Francie Covington and seconded by Commissioner Michael Hardiman; the Commission voted "Aye" unanimously and approved forwarding the department—s packet to the CPC, COIT and the mayor—s office.

What comes next: the Capital Planning Committee and COIT will review and score projects in the coming months; the mayor—s proposed budget is typically transmitted to the board in June.