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San Francisco first‑quarter budget report: officials project roughly $116 million shortfall amid pandemic
Summary
City finance officials told the Budget & Appropriations Committee that early FY2020–21 revenue is weaker than budgeted, driven by telecommuting’s effect on business taxes, a steep hotel and sales‑tax decline, and department revenue losses; staff outlined options including reserves and carryforward balances and warned of state-level ERAF uncertainty.
San Francisco finance officials told the Board of Supervisors’ Budget & Appropriations Committee on Nov. 18 that the city is tracking a first‑quarter general‑fund shortfall of about $116 million for fiscal year 2020–21, with roughly $51 million of early shortfalls concentrated in specific departments.
Ben Rosenfield, the city controller, and Michelle Allersman of the Mayor’s budget office presented the quarterly report and said the shortfall is driven largely by weaker‑than‑expected revenue as the local economic recovery has lagged behind assumptions in the adopted budget. The report covers July through September and draws on data showing sharp losses in the hospitality, arts and food‑service sectors.
The officials highlighted several concrete drivers: the business‑tax projection was revised down by about $99 million because payroll and gross‑receipts apportionment is sensitive to where employees physically work; the team now assumes substantially higher telecommuting (100% through September and 75% for the remainder of the year in the model). Hotel tax…
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