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City asks departments for 2.5% budget cuts in FY18; SFFD leaders warn about EMS, staffing implications
Summary
The mayor—s office has instructed general-fund departments to cut 2.5% in the first year and another 2.5% in the second (cumulative 5%), translating to roughly $1.5 million in year one for the Fire Department. Commissioners and chiefs warned reductions could strain EMS and station staffing and urged better grant-writing capacity and clearer accounting of resources transferred from other agencies.
Mark Corso, the department—s budget director, presented the mayor—s FY18/19 and FY19/20 budget instructions to the Fire Commission on Dec. 13 and outlined the city—s two-year rolling process. Corso said the joint report prepared by the mayor—s office, controller—s office and budget analyst projects deficits of about $88 million in fiscal 2018—19 and $173 million in 2019—20 (a cumulative $262 million over two years). As a result, the mayor instructed general-fund departments to reduce ongoing general-fund support by 2.5% in the first year and another 2.5% in the second year.
Corso said the Fire Department—s share of the first-year reduction is approximately $1.5 million (roughly $3 million cumulatively over two years after factoring exclusions). He stressed the instructions are citywide and that departments will continue to advocate with the mayor's office for essential life-safety resources when preparing the Feb. 21 budget submission.
Commissioners focused questions on likely operational impacts. Several asked whether critical EMS services such as Station 49 received commensurate funding when emergency-medical services moved to the fire department in 1997 and whether sustained growth in EMS call volume had been reflected in departmental budgets. Chief and deputy chiefs emphasized that EMS demand has grown substantially since the transfer from public health and that the department will press for resources tied to call volumes and response-time targets. "We continue to work with the mayor's office to emphasize that in order to meet response times and provide the adequate level of service that residents and visitors need, we need to be properly resourced," Corso said.
Commissioners also pressed for more proactive revenue-seeking: multiple commissioners urged hiring or otherwise securing grant-writing capacity and resurrecting a "Friends of the San Francisco Fire Department" nonprofit to pursue philanthropic support for training, equipment and unbudgeted needs. Corso said the department will provide capital (facilities), IT and equipment requests by the Jan. 12 deadline and will share materials with commissioners in advance of budget-committee meetings.
Timeline and next steps: capital/IT/equipment requests due Jan. 12; departmental submissions due Feb. 21; mayor to deliver a balanced budget to the Board of Supervisors on June 1. Commissioners asked staff to poll dates in mid-February for potential special meetings to review budget submissions.
Votes or formal actions were not taken on the floor during the budget presentation; the commission directed staff to continue preparing requests and to prioritize materials for the Jan. 10 committee meeting.
