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Planning Department lays out $3.7M shortfall, options to balance FY2010 budget
Summary
Department leaders told the Planning Commission the department faces roughly a $3.7 million shortfall for FY2010 amid a projected citywide $460.4 million deficit. Staff outlined fee strategies, efficiency grants, voluntary furloughs and program prioritization as options to close the gap.
San Francisco — Planning Department leaders told the Planning Commission Feb. 5 that the department faces an estimated $3.7 million starting deficit for fiscal year 2010 and described several options to balance the upcoming budget.
Director-level staff said the citywide deficit projection is about $460.4 million; departments were directed by the Mayor’s Office to cut 12.5% of their general-fund allocations and prepare an additional contingency of the same size. Elaine Forbes, planning department staff, said the department’s bottom-line exposure reflects a mixture of reduced fee revenue (projected ~21% decline), lost one-time balances and state-level funding uncertainty.
Forbes outlined balancing options: targeted fee adjustments (including cost‑recovery fee structures for pre-application and single intake efforts), new fees for mitigation monitoring and enforcement, seeking efficiency grants from the Mayor’s Office, reallocating staff to fee-supported divisions and pursuing alternative capital funding for plan implementation such as impact fees or bonds. The department also highlighted an internal voluntary furlough program that yielded roughly $200,000 in unpaid time off this year.
Commissioners asked about potential service impacts and ways to prioritize hearings and staffing. Staff said they will bring a draft work program and more detailed budget scenarios to upcoming meetings and distribute schedules for planned outreach sessions across the city.
The presentation closed with staff promising distribution of outreach schedules and follow-up memos; commissioners thanked staff and encouraged written submissions from public stakeholders on budget trade-offs.
