Budget analysts say SFPD general-fund support rose about 33% over seven years; hearing spotlights staffing, overtime and recruitment challenges

The Budget & Finance Committee held an extended hearing on the San Francisco Police Department—s budget growth since FY 1999 and heard presentations from the budget analyst—s office, the comptroller—s office and police leaders.

Ken Bruce, budget analyst, said the department—s general-fund support increased by about $76.4 million (approximately 33%) from the 1999—2000 base to the current revised numbers for FY 2006—2007. Bruce and other presenters noted salaries and benefits grew faster than other categories: salaries and benefits rose by roughly $88.6 million (about 47.2%). Non-salary spending in the general fund declined substantially over the period as the department shifted resources toward personnel costs.

Monique Zmuda of the Comptroller—s Office framed the larger fiscal context, noting FY2003—2004 was a difficult year for the city with salary concessions and widespread spending reductions. She and Bruce highlighted that the department had budgeted more full-time equivalent positions than were filled; in FY2006—2007 the department had roughly 2,765 budgeted positions with about 2,512 filled, leaving a vacancy in the 200—s range. The department plans five academy classes intended to recruit and hire roughly 200—250 officers over the next two years.

The presentation covered overtime volatility: special-law-enforcement and grant-driven overtime spiked in certain years (for example airport security grants), and the department is projected to run a general-fund overtime deficit in the current year (budget analysts estimated a $3M to $5M overrun in different scenarios). Budget-to-actual comparisons show SFPD typically spends between 95% and 99% of its total appropriation across the multi-year period.

Chief Fong and police HR and training staff described operational steps to accelerate recruitment and reduce academy attrition. Bruce Tompf of the Department of Human Resources said the city will pilot a one-stop testing center to collapse the multi-site selection process into a single site and reduce the time from application to conditional job offer from more than a year toward a target of under nine months. Chief Fong described retention incentives, expanded background-processing resources and a new lateral-hire program for officers with two years of patrol experience.

Supervisors pressed for greater detail on where the money is spent by district and program, the departmental plan to manage overtime and whether investments in technology and civilianization can free sworn officers for patrol duties. The chief said an ongoing technology assessment and civilianization plan aim to reduce duplicative clerical work and improve records and field reporting.

What happens next: Committee members asked for follow-up information on line-item staffing, the results of the technology assessment and periodic updates on recruitment progress and overtime projections.

Selected figures presented in the hearing (committee packet): general-fund increase ~33% since FY1999; salaries & benefits increase ~47.2%; budgeted positions in FY2006—2007 ~2,765 with ~2,512 filled. Projected FY overtime overrun estimated between ~$3M and $5M depending on accounting and chargeable funds.