Budget committee outlines calendar and five priority topics for April hearings

The Full Budget and Finance Committee convened March 20 to review the schedule and scope for the city’s 2019–20 and 2020–21 budget hearings and to direct staff on research priorities.

Chair Sandra Lee Fewer opened the meeting and asked Dan Goncher of the Budget and Legislative Analyst (BLA) office to brief the committee on the BLA’s plan for analyzing board priorities. Goncher said supervisors identified 13 priority issues through an informal survey and that the BLA will research five primary areas, including public safety, housing, homelessness, and mental health and substance abuse. "A total of 13 priority issues were identified by supervisors through an informal survey," Goncher said.

Goncher outlined a preliminary hearing schedule: public safety on April 10, housing and homelessness on April 17, and mental health and substance abuse on April 24. He described the BLA’s planned approach: compiling program backgrounds, historical spending…