Committee accepts bequest for Mayor—s Fund to aid homeless families; controller to confirm policy use

The Budget and Finance Committee on Feb. 6 approved sending forward a resolution accepting an estate gift to the Mayor—s Fund for the Homeless intended to support homeless-prevention services, rental subsidies and move-in grants.

Joyce Crum, director of the Housing and Homeless Division at the San Francisco Human Services Agency, told supervisors the bequest will bolster the city—s homeless-family initiative and can be used to provide short-term rental subsidies, pay overdue utility bills, and support move-in costs. Staff estimated the estate—s sale proceeds would be in the roughly $400,000 range.

Supervisors pressed staff on how the bequest fits existing financial policies for one-time and capital funding. Crum said the donation is restricted by the terms of the bequest and would be applied to homeless-prevention programs with time-limited subsidies; Ben Rosenfield, the City Controller, said he would confer with department representatives to confirm full compliance with City financial rules.

Crum also provided an account-level update: she said about $235,000 in the Mayor—s Fund was uncommitted and that, including a separate large private donation, the overall fund balance was reported at roughly $1.3 million. Crum said donor names and spending records are publicly available except for anonymous contributors.

Officials clarified that the bequest is a legally binding gift that can carry restrictions and that such restricted funds do not automatically flow through the City—s general-fund nonrecurring-revenue policy. With no public comment, a supervisor moved to send the item forward with the committee—s recommendation; the motion carried without objection.

The committee did not adopt specific programmatic allocations at the hearing; staff will return with the formal appropriation and any additional compliance or accounting steps required by the bequest terms.