San Francisco Budget and Appropriations Committee Special Meeting - June 28, 2021
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San Francisco Budget and Appropriations Committee Special Meeting
The Budget and Appropriations Committee met on June 28, 2021, to discuss and make final decisions on the Fiscal Years 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 budget and salary ordinances. The meeting was chaired by Matt Haney and included committee members President Walton, Supervisors Ronan, Safai, and Marr. The committee heard from the Department of Public Health and the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing, and later recessed to reconvene at 9:00 AM on June 29, 2021.
Consent Calendar
- No items were listed on the consent calendar. Public comment on items 1 and 2 (budget and salary ordinances) was closed on June 25, 2021, and no further public comment was taken on those items.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Public comment on agenda item number 3 (appropriation for rent relief and social housing) was available via phone and email. No specific public comments were recorded in the transcript for this meeting.
Discussion Items
- Department of Public Health (DPH): DPH presented a $150 million total spending plan for COVID-19 response, with $123 million in FY2021-2022 and $27 million in FY2022-2023. The $27 million is funded by $12.7 million in grants and $14 million in general fund. Supervisor Safai expressed concern about the $14 million general fund placeholder in year two, suggesting it should be revisited in January 2022 rather than reserved now. DPH defended the need for continued vaccination, community engagement, and operational sustainability, noting that COVID-19 will be an ongoing challenge. The committee did not take a final vote on this item during the meeting.
- Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing (HSH): HSH discussed the Safe Sleep Program, which costs $191 per tent per night. The committee questioned the high cost, noting that it is comparable to transitional housing. HSH outlined cost-saving measures, including renegotiating vendor contracts and standardizing staffing. The committee aimed to reduce the cost to approximately $145 per night, which would bring the annual program cost for 260 tents from $15 million to about $13.7 million. No final decision was made; the committee planned to continue discussions.
- Other Departments: The committee later heard from the Sheriff's Office, Police Department, and Juvenile Probation Department. The Sheriff's Office reported a reduction in overtime from $25 million to $7.7 million in the current year, attributing this to the closure of County Jail 4 and attrition. The Police Department discussed recruitment goals of 100 officers per year, with academies of 30-35 recruits each, acknowledging recruitment challenges. No formal votes were taken on these items during the recessed meeting.
Key Outcomes
- No final votes were taken on the budget and salary ordinances (items 1 and 2) during this meeting. The committee recessed at 12:30 AM on June 29, 2021, to reconvene at 9:00 AM that same day to complete its work.
- The committee indicated that further discussions would be needed to finalize the $14 million general fund allocation for DPH in FY2022-2023 and to reduce the Safe Sleep Program costs to around $145 per night.
Meeting Transcript
June 28th, 2021 budget and appropriations committee. I'm Matt Heaney, Chair of the Budget and Appropriations Committee. I'm joined by committee members President Walton, Supervisors Ronan, Safai and Marr. Our clerk is Miss Linda Wong. I want to thank Colina Mendoza from SFGov TV for broadcasting this meeting. Madam Clerk, do you have any announcements? Yes, Mr. Chair. The minutes will reflect that committee members participated in this remote meeting through video conference to the same extent as though physically present. The board recognizes that public access to city services is essential and invite public participation in the following ways. Public comment on item agenda items one and two was provided at the committee meeting on Friday, June 25th. Therefore, this committee will not take public comment on those items. Public comment will be available on agenda item number three, either channel 26, 78 or 99 and sfgtv.org, streaming the number, public call in number across the screen. Each speaker will be allowed one minute to speak, comments or opportunity to speak during public comment period available via phone call by calling 415 65501 again, 41565501 meeting ID 14650 3948. Again, that's 14650394A, then press the symbol pound twice. When connected, you will hear the meeting discussions, but you will be muted and in listening mode only. When your item of interest comes up, please dial star three to be added to the speaker line. Best practices are to call from a quiet location, speak clearly and slowly, and turn down your television or radio. Alternatively, you may submit public comment in the following ways. Email to myself, the budget and appropriations committee clerk at L I N D A W O N G at SFGLV.org. If you submit a comment via email, it will be forwarded to the supervisors and will be included as part of the official file. Written comments may be sent via U.S. Postal Service to City Hall Number One, Dr. Carlton B. Good that place, room 244, San Francisco, California 94102. Mr. Chair, this concludes my announcement. Thank you, Madam Clerk. Will you please call items one and two together? Yes, item number one, budget and appropriation ordinance appropriating all estimated receipts and all estimated expenditures for department of the city county of San Francisco as of June 1st, 2021 for the fiscal years ending June 30, 2022 and June 30, 2023. Item number two, annual salary ordinance, enumerating positions in the annual budget and appropriation ordinance for the fiscal years ending June 30, 2022 and June 20. I'm sorry, June 30, 2023, continuing creating or establishing these positions. Mr. Chair. Thank you, Madam Clerk, and welcome back, uh, colleagues. Uh today uh we very much hope that we will be able to make uh some final decisions on these two items, and I want to thank you uh all and your staff for your your hard work uh over the past few months really since we've been started working on our fiscal years 2122 and 2223 budgets. Um there'll be plenty more to say um uh as we make some of these final decisions, but I I do just want to uh clarify what the process will be today. We've invited back um really just a handful of of departments uh for whom we've had additional uh questions or or actions that uh this committee uh is interested in taking. Um so I'm going to have uh two of those departments, Department of Public Health and the Department of Homelessness and Support of Housing uh this morning. I think we're gonna recess uh until later this afternoon or evening and invite back a few other departments. Um, and then uh we'll likely recess again after that for for final committee actions later this evening. Um, I do want to say that public comment on these items was closed on Friday, June 25th. Um we held public comments on items one and two that day, um, and as well as uh uh uh the week before we had public comment, and we appreciate everyone who took their time to share their thoughts on the budget uh and their input will uh absolutely help to guide the final decisions of this committee. Um so with that, colleagues, as I mentioned this morning, uh we have the Department of Public Health and the Department of Homelessness and Support of Housing. Uh, and uh then we will recess after that. So, first I want to welcome the Department of Public Health and open up colleagues uh to any additional questions for this department. Welcome back, Dr. Colfax. Thank you, Chair Haney and committee members. Supervisor Safai Thank you.
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