Committee hears five-year plan update; January's $108M surplus revised to about $75M

The San Francisco Budget and Appropriations Committee heard a March update to the city's five-year financial plan on April 13, during which the mayor's budget office said a previously projected $108,000,000 surplus for the upcoming budget years is now "slightly less now at about 75,000,000." Ashley Grafenberger, the mayor's budget director, presented the update alongside staff from the controller's office and the budget and legislative analyst.

Grafenberger told the committee the plan uses a "base case" that rolls forward adopted policy choices and current assumptions. She said expenditure changes were the primary driver of the downward revision, pointing to a higher-than-expected employer contribution for pensions (about one percentage point above January assumptions), increased workers' compensation and modest health-care cost changes. She said the forecast assumes labor settlements at roughly the consumer price index and…