Committee approves Budget & Legislative Analyst work plan, endorses 17,000 hours and $2 million contract
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Summary
The Government Audit & Oversight Committee advanced a calendar-year work plan for the Budget & Legislative Analyst Office that allocates roughly 17,000 hours to budget analysis, legislative analysis, policy analysis and audits and confirms a $2,000,000 contract; the committee asked staff to refine metrics and return with recommended changes to the fiscal-impact definition.
The Government Audit & Oversight Committee of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors on Feb. 15 voted to advance the Budget & Legislative Analyst Office’s 2010 work plan, endorsing roughly 17,000 hours of service under a $2,000,000 calendar-year contract.
Severn Campbell of the Budget & Legislative Analyst Office told the committee the office’s recommended allocation includes 3,000 hours for budget analysis, 8,450 hours for legislative analysis, 1,100 hours for policy analysis (100 hours per supervisor) and 4,450 hours for performance audits and special projects. “These recommended hours for budget analysis…would be 3000 hours,” Campbell said during the presentation.
Campbell said the contract began Jan. 1, that the office will be evaluated against measurable goals in the plan by mid-December, and that staff will propose revised criteria for the Administrative Code’s definition of fiscal impact with a recommendation due by March 30. The office also said it can shift up to 10 percent of total hours between categories but would return to the committee if requested changes exceed that limit.
Supervisors pressed for clarity on several points. Supervisor John Avalos asked how the new allocations compare with prior years; Campbell said the contract and hours are reduced from previous years but that technical efficiencies should allow the office to produce similar outputs. Supervisor Carmen Chu confirmed the $2,000,000 contract figure and that the plan is on a calendar-year basis.
Members and the public urged greater transparency in published reports. Multiple public commenters — including neighborhood advocates and transparency advocates — asked that audit and budget reports be posted online with clear dollar figures rather than hour tallies alone so residents can analyze results. Campbell said committee and budget reports are posted online with agendas and special project reports will be posted on the budget analyst website and during the budget process.
The committee moved Item 1 forward with a positive recommendation by unanimous consent. The measure will appear on the Board of Supervisors’ Feb. 23 agenda for final action.
