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Supervisors back clarifying changes to film rebate program and push for local‑hire language; DCYF budget cuts draw strong community protest
Summary
The committee agreed to move a change capping individual film production rebates at $600,000 while asking staff to draft stronger local‑hiring and disadvantaged‑community language for next week. Separately, the Department of Children, Youth & Their Families outlined midyear and proposed '09–'10 cuts, prompting speakers and supervisors to warn that reductions to youth employment and violence‑prevention programs could deepen public‑safety and economic harms.
The committee considered two related but separate items on March 18: revisions to the city’s film production rebate program and a departmental budget briefing from the Department of Children, Youth & Their Families (DCYF).
Film rebate: Supervisor Alioto Pier proposed removing a provision that limited individual production rebates to the amount of taxes paid and instead setting a per‑production cap of $600,000. Economic analysis presented by the Office of Economic Analysis showed the higher cap would likely be more utilized and could create hundreds of short‑term film‑industry jobs; the analysis projected a modest negative general‑fund impact but stronger local employment outcomes. Film industry speakers (producers, Screen Actors Guild, electricians’ union) urged approval and emphasized tourism and job impacts. Many community speakers asked the board to add explicit local hiring targets and disadvantaged‑ZIP‑code guarantees; the film commission and author agreed to draft such language for the next hearing. The committee agreed to move the ordinance forward with a recommendation and asked for amendment language on hiring by Tuesday’s full board meeting.
DCYF budget: Acting Director Maria Hsu summarized midyear reductions (the department met a midyear general‑fund target including $937k in grant reductions) and a proposed '09–'10 budget that reduces operating costs, conveners and capacity building and includes direct‑service cuts across program areas (early care, out‑of‑school time, youth workforce and violence‑prevention initiatives). DCYF said it remains short of the deeper contingency target by roughly $337,000. Supervisors and a lengthy public comment period emphasized the importance of preserving summer youth employment slots and neighborhood programs (YouthWorks, MAIP, Beacon Centers) and pressed the mayor’s office and DCYF to pursue stimulus and federal workforce dollars as mitigation. DCYF and mayor’s budget staff said they would continue to pursue external grants and interdepartmental reconfiguration to reduce service disruption.
Both issues drove extensive public comment: film‑industry representatives asked for competitiveness and clarity for producers, while community groups and youth‑employment providers warned that proposed reductions to youth workforce and violence prevention would mean hundreds fewer summer jobs and fewer supports for at‑risk youth. Supervisors directed staff to return with more precise hiring language for the film ordinance and asked DCYF and the mayor’s office to identify stimulus‑ready, shovel‑ready youth‑employment programs to protect summer placements.
