Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Budget Adoption topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
DAS commission unanimously approves FY21'23 budget as feeding response winds down
Summary
The San Francisco Department of Disability and Aging Services Commission unanimously approved the FY21'23 budget Feb. 3, 2021. Budget staff warned the city faces a projected $411 million deficit and the COVID-19 feeding program drove year-to-year shifts; the department expects feeding supports to ramp down as vaccination expands.
The San Francisco Department of Disability and Aging Services Commission voted unanimously Feb. 3 to approve the department's FY21'23 budget after a presentation from budget staff outlining pandemic-driven program spending and revenue changes.
Dan Kaplan, DAS/HSA budget director, told the commission the city is forecasting a $411,000,000 deficit and described how the department's COVID-19 feeding program (about $47,000,000 in the current year) accounted for much of a year-to-year decline in total DAS spending from approximately $435 million to $407 million. Kaplan also said state increases in CalFresh and IHSS administrative allocations, and contractual wage and insurance pressures for IHSS providers, would shape the department's fiscal stance.
Kaplan and Executive Director Shereen McSpadden said the statutory $3,000,000 annual growth in the Dignity Fund may be suspended under the fund's governing law to help manage the fiscal shortfall, though no final decision had been made at the time of the meeting. Kaplan said staff will work with the mayor's office on how to manage inflationary growth in existing contracts and on other trade-offs.
Budget staff highlighted an IHSS local maintenance-of-effort (MOE) increase and rising costs for IHSS worker insurance and wages that together explain much of the non-feeding-program growth in the budget year; they cited an estimated $9.6 million MOE impact.
Following the presentations and public comment, Vice President Janet Spears moved to approve the budget; Commissioner Michelle Carrington seconded. The commission approved the budget by roll-call vote with all members voting yes.
The commission also discussed operational metrics: McSpadden reported DAS's integrated intake (the doc hub) received 45,600 calls in 2020 (a 34% increase over the prior year) with monthly volumes remaining elevated (about 3,400 calls per month vs. about 2,800 pre-pandemic). Staff said many calls were food-related and that the department will plan for a phased ramp-down of pandemic feeding supports and transition ongoing needs into traditional DAS programs as public-health conditions permit.
Next steps noted by staff include finalizing budget submissions to the mayor's office by Feb. 22 and proceeding through the city's budget-review timeline (May'June hearings and a board vote in July).
