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Fire chief warns of rising call volume and budget pressures as commission reconvenes budget committee
Summary
Chief Joanne Hayes White and Director Corso told the commission the department is seeing a rapid increase in call volume (about 400 additional transports between Nov. and Dec.) and faces a mayoral instruction to propose general fund reductions that translate to roughly $1.7 million for the department in year one; commissioners urged reconvening the budget committee to find offsets.
San Francisco Fire Department leaders told the Fire Commission on Wednesday that they are tracking a sharp rise in calls for service and must balance those operational demands against mayoral direction to propose budget reductions.
Chief of Department Joanne Hayes White reported an increase in emergency medical transports and other calls between November and December, saying there were "400 additional transports" in that period and that peak periods such as Friday evenings had become particularly challenging for response times. She said the department is working with the mayor's office, controller and private ambulance partners to reconvene a work group to analyze call-volume spikes and staffing needs.
"We're zoning in on particularly Friday evenings," Hayes White said, noting congestion and hospital turnaround time also affect response availability. The chief asked commissioners to participate in the reconvened work group.
Director Corso presented the draft operating budget for fiscal years 2017-18 and 2018-19 and told commissioners the city's five-year financial plan projects structural shortfalls. "The city released a five-year financial plan back in December, and it outlined a projected deficit of about $400,000,000 over the next two years," Corso said, adding a five-year projection that could reach about $840,000,000. As a result, departments were instructed to propose general fund reductions equivalent to 3% in the first year and a cumulative 6% in the second year; Corso said that instruction equates to approximately $1.7 million for the fire department in the first year and about 3.4 million cumulatively in the second year.
Commissioners pressed staff for options to meet those reductions without eroding core services. Corso said some of the gap might be offset by revenue increases tied to higher EMS and prevention fees but estimated that fee adjustments could cover roughly 40% of the required reduction. Commissioners urged the department to pursue grants, alternative funding and further analysis of the call types driving demand.
The budget presentation also highlighted the department's multiyear equipment plan, with an allocation of roughly $7.1 million in the current year and similar funding proposed for the next fiscal year to purchase engines and other apparatus.
What happens next: The commission reconvened its budget committee and planned further review at the Feb. 8 commission meeting where the department's submittal will be considered ahead of the citywide budget delivery later in the spring.
