Committee reviews $118M midyear package and warns of larger FY09/10 shortfall; 409 positions targeted for elimination

The Budget and Finance Committee conducted an extensive hearing on the mayor’s midyear budget package and next year planning on Dec. 16. Nani Coloretti, the mayor’s budget director, outlined a midyear package the office identified to balance an immediate shortfall and described planning assumptions for FY09/10.

Coloretti and staff presented a departmental layoff table showing roughly 409 layoffs (a mix of active layoffs and eliminated vacant positions) across city departments, with some of the largest personnel impacts in the Department of Public Health, Human Services Agency and public-safety support functions. The budget office separated 'layoffs' (staff to be notified) from 'positions eliminated' (vacant positions cut). Supervisors requested a further breakdown by general fund vs. non-general fund roles, vacant-position locations, and how many empty positions pay more than $100,000 annually.

The mayor’s office said it had identified approximately $118M of midyear actions including salary savings, delayed capital, contract reductions and other efficiencies; about $47M is derived from revenue-related adjustments. Departments were asked to meet aggressive FY09/10 targets (12.5% base reductions plus a 12.5% contingency) and to pursue administrative efficiencies, consolidations and revenue options. The budget office warned of a much larger structural shortfall in FY09/10: under a pessimistic controller scenario it estimated a $575.6M gap in sources and uses, which falls to roughly $460.4M when the proposed midyear actions’ FY09/10 savings are included.

Department heads reiterated difficult choices. Greg Sass, DPH chief finance officer, said DPH reduced its midyear contributions from an initial $26M target to roughly $14M through prior measures and deferrals, but stressed that many program reductions are hard to absorb because of dependence on state Medi-Cal and other revenue sources. Bill Sifferman, chief probation officer, said juvenile probation eliminated 19 of 37 general fund contracts (approx. $642,000) after prioritizing programs closely tied to detention alternatives and community supervision; community partners testified that cuts would eliminate vital prevention and case management services.

The committee asked for additional information on workforce-related cuts across HSA and OEWD, tree‑maintenance tradeoffs (capital vs. maintenance), and the list of capital freezes (to be provided), and scheduled follow-up briefings and data deliveries. Coloretti said staff is developing working groups on public safety, community-based services, revenue options and civil-service reform and is preparing to track potential state actions and federal infrastructure stimulus opportunities.

Next steps: departments will return with required analyses per budget instructions (due Feb. 20); the committee requested supplemental reports on vacant positions, high-salary vacancies, workforce impacts, and capital freeze lists to be delivered in the coming weeks.