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Planning Department budget update: mayor trims general fund support, Transbay and Cesar Chavez projects funded
Summary
Staff presented the department’s FY2008 budget as submitted to the mayor and to the Board of Supervisors: a proposed $23.2M budget after mayoral changes, reduced general fund request, Transbay Joint Powers Authority funding for EIR work and new allocations for Cesar Chavez planning and historic resource outreach.
The Planning Department outlined changes to its proposed fiscal year 2008 budget at the Commission’s June 14 meeting, reporting that the mayor’s office reduced the department’s requested general fund allocation and reassigned several items while preserving most of the department’s core work program.
Alicia Jean Baptiste of the Planning Department said the budget submitted to the mayor totaled about $23.7 million and requested $4.2 million in general fund support; mayoral review reduced the department’s general fund allocation to about $2.9 million and produced a mayor’s proposed budget of $23,202,729. The department had asked for additional general fund dollars to support long‑range planning, the historic resource survey program and an integrated permit tracking system.
Baptiste said the mayor’s changes include new recognized revenue from the Transbay Joint Powers Authority of $680,000 for EIR and planning work, $150,000 added for Cesar Chavez planning work to augment the Mission public realm program, and $70,000 for community outreach related to the citywide historic resource survey. The mayor’s office eliminated funding for two clerical support positions and removed the permit‑tracking system from the mayor’s submittal, asking staff to seek alternate funding for that project.
On personnel, the department noted a reclassification that replaces two Planner V positions with management‑level positions, with associated salary savings and anticipated retirements. Baptiste said the department will continue to seek alternative funding sources for the permit‑tracking system and will present final budget outcomes after the Board of Supervisors’ review in late June.
Commissioners pressed staff on whether added expenditures were consultant or staff positions (Baptiste said a mix, with most new dollars for consultant contracts) and asked for more detail on Transbay contract breakdowns ($250,000 for the EIR, remainder for consultant contracts). The review at the Board of Supervisors was scheduled for June 20 and June 27, with the department to report back in July on final outcomes.
The commission did not take a formal vote on the budget at this hearing; the presentation is part of the department’s ongoing budget review with the Board of Supervisors.
