Subcommittee advances nonresident admission fee for San Francisco Botanical Garden after hours of public comment

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors Budget & Finance Subcommittee on May 25 advanced an ordinance to charge non‑resident admission at the San Francisco Botanical Garden, forwarding the measure to the full Board without recommendation after extensive public comment and committee amendments.

Phil Ginsberg, director of the Recreation and Park Department, told the committee the department is "grappling with a $12,400,000 budget deficit" and presented the nonresident fee as a way to raise recurring revenue and avoid deeper cuts to garden staff. The proposal would keep San Francisco residents free and charge nonresidents $7 for adults, $5 for youth and seniors, $2 for children and cap family charges at $15; the department estimated a conservative net yield of about $250,000 a year and a one‑time kiosk and point‑of‑sale capital cost of about $70,000.

The Botanical Garden Society and Rec & Park staff described an existing memorandum of understanding that ties city staffing to society support: the society’s endowment and gifts fund an eleventh gardener if the department staffs 10 gardeners. Society representatives said most of their funds are restricted to capital projects and that operating dollars are limited. Mr. McKechnie of the Botanical Garden Society said the society are "gardeners, not lobbyists," and defended outreach and fundraising work to protect the collection.

Opponents disputed the attendance and revenue assumptions and warned the nonresident fee risked privatizing public parkland or becoming a first step toward resident charges. Speakers opposing the fee argued that published attendance figures are estimates rather than gate counts and urged the committee to preserve free public access to Golden Gate Park's arboretum. Supporters — including many docents, volunteers and several labor unions — said the modest nonresident fee is a practical response to steep budget cuts and would help preserve gardeners’ jobs and the garden’s collections.

Committee members negotiated language that the Recreation and Park Department will report back to the Budget & Finance Committee and the Board on fee collections and expenditures, that the ordinance will sunset and require reauthorization (one‑year review as adopted by the subcommittee) and that the department shall rescind the nonresident fee if dedicated new tax revenue for Rec & Park is later provided. The subcommittee forwarded the ordinance to the full Board without recommendation as amended; the full Board will consider the ordinance and the committee’s amendments at a future date.

The subcommittee’s action leaves the measure alive at City Hall but places key conditions on implementation: continued free access for San Francisco residents, a reporting obligation, and an automatic review of the fee’s performance and legal status. The committee did not take a roll‑call vote on the ordinance; action was forwarded by motion as amended.