Almost 400 city employees will be laid off
By: Brent Begin
Examiner Staff Writer
December 10, 2008
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| (Mike Koozmin/Special to The Examiner) |
SAN FRANCISCO — Faced with a $575 million budget shortfall for the next fiscal year, Mayor Gavin Newsom announced Tuesday that 712 city positions will be eliminated, with as many as 399 workers receiving pink slips this Friday.
The remaining 313 positions are currently unfilled, but will nonetheless be eliminated as part of a $118 million package of midyear budget cuts.
Local taxes are expected to be down $90 million to $125 million this fiscal year, as a result of the economic downturn, according to city officials. Newsom said Tuesday that a combination of revenue increases and spending reductions will boost the budget by
$118 million.
San Francisco’s current budget is $6.5 billion. When looking to make cuts, however, only 20 percent of the budget is discretionary, in small part because voters have mandated budget set-asides to require minimum levels of funding for services such as police, fire, library and Muni, leaving city officials with $1.2 billion that can be adjusted.
Additionally, many of the 27,000 workers employed by The City are in line for a pay raise in 2009, according to Human Resources Director Micki Callahan. Those raises will cost The City $100 million.
San Francisco’s largest agency, the Department of Public Health, was hardest hit by the midyear budget reductions, taking a $24 million cut. About $6 million was slashed from the Human Services Agency.
Newsom also proposed to delay the hiring of two academy classes at the Police Department and one in the Sherriff’s Department; additionally, $1.3 million in Fire Department positions will be eliminated.
Other reductions include $13 million from freezing capital projects and $2.4 million taken from planned computer purchases and information-technology projects.
Revenue increases included $23 million more in payroll taxes that were recently identified, and higher occupancy at San Francisco General Hospital that resulted in more than $12 million in unexpected revenue.
Separate from the mayor’s budget proposal, board President Aaron Peskin submitted legislation to take away $8.5 million in wages and programs, targeting positions at the Mayor’s Office and the Fire Department, among others, along with funding cuts for the opera, symphony and ballet, and The City’s 311 call center.
A lot off the top
City departments will have to slash their payrolls to make up for a budget deficit:
City Attorney’s Office
$660,000
District Attorney’s Office
$700,000
Assessor-Recorder’s Office
$780,000
Planning Department
$980,000
Public Works Department
$1,000,000
Fire Department
$1,310,000
Human Services Agency
$1,850,000
SFPD (civilian positions)
$3,300,000
Public Health Department
$10,320,000
Source: Mayor’s Office
