Building Inspection Commission unanimously recommends DBI budget, asks for memo tying fees and SRO funding

SAN FRANCISCO (Feb. 11, 2026)

The San Francisco Building Inspection Commission voted unanimously on Feb. 11 to recommend the Department of Building Inspection(DBI) proposed budget for fiscal years 2026through2028 to the mayor's office and the Board of Supervisors and directed commissioners to prepare an accompanying letter tying the recommendation to upcoming fee legislation and urging continued support for community SRO programs.

Deputy Director for Administration Alex Koskinen presented the budget at a special meeting, describing it as the second of two required budget hearings ahead of DBI's submission deadline. "The mayor's office is looking to cut $400,000,000 of general fund expenditure in both years," Koskinen said, while adding that specific reductions were not yet decided and that DBI appears less likely to be affected. He told commissioners the department hopes to reach full cost recovery next fiscal year and currently projects it needs to generate roughly an additional $4,000,000.

Koskinen detailed a planned personnel transfer and modest fee adjustments. He said 24 full-time equivalent positions (presented in the slides as a $6,000,000 middle-line change) will move from DBI to the Planning department as reimbursable positions under a work-order arrangement; he described this as a financing structure that should leave DBI's overall expenditures unchanged. On fees, Koskinen said the departmentexpects an average fee increase of about 2.7% for the coming year and that detailed line-item fee changes will be shown when fee legislation is drafted.

The presentation also covered reserves and a technology hire for a new permitting system. Koskinen said DBI's fund balance is healthy (he projected roughly $2324 million, approximate) and that a single temporary technology position for the OpenGov permitting transition (noted at $300,000) will be paid from reserves rather than added to fees so that fee payers do not see a short-term rise followed by a drop.

Koskinen also summarized grant programs tied to housing and code outreach, saying the current grant cycle ends June 30 and that the department issued a request for proposals on Monday with proposals due in mid-March.

Public commenters urged transparency and community engagement. Kathy Vaughn, a Tenderloin resident and peer counselor at Central City Collaborative, thanked the commission for preserving the SRO collaborative budget and asked that the department "please keep us informed of any changes to the budget." Pratima Teke, director of community organizing at Central City Accelero Collaborative, said community groups had learned of a proposed DBI-Planning merger through news reports and asked the commission to request a public hearing from the mayor's office so stakeholders could understand how housing inspection and departmental budgeting would be affected. Through a translator, two speakers from Chinatown and SRO Families United described cramped living conditions and asked for proactive outreach to limited-English families if budgets change.

Commissioners asked for clarifications on the cost and operational impacts of moving IT and MIS staff to Planning. Koskinen said the long-term goal of the merger is efficiency but acknowledged short-term complexity and uncertainty; he added that if a charter amendment or ballot measure changes department structures, those impacts could be more significant in year two of the budget cycle.

After discussion, President Alexander Took moved to recommend the DBI budget as presented and to draft a commission letter that (1) ties the recommendation to upcoming fee legislation, (2) stresses support for the community grants line and offers fee-based options to replace any general fund reductions, and (3) requests reclassification of the commission secretary position to the O-9 management series. Commissioner Williams seconded the motion. The commission conducted a roll call vote and the motion carried unanimously.

The commission's recommendation will be submitted ahead of DBI's Feb. 21 budget submission deadline; Koskinen offered to assist commissioners with the drafting of the accompanying letter. The meeting adjourned at 10:17 a.m.

(At the meeting: DBI Deputy Director Alex Koskinen presented the budget; public commenters included Kathy Vaughn, Pratima Teke, Ai Lin Xie and Ai Ching Mai.)