San Francisco was looking at a $1.5 billion budget shortfall that the mayor said would have necessitated many drastic cuts and layoffs, but she has now changed her tune.
In the first of a series of virtual town hall meetings, Mayor London Breed said that San Franciscans have the Biden-Harris administration to thank for this one, for passing the American Rescue Plan.
“It has provided $630 million to San Francisco, which can help us to close our budget deficit,” Breed said.
Plus, it has helped to fend off cuts to basic city services, she noted.
“That includes things like laying off police officers, cutting street cleaning services, and having longer 911 response times – things that have a real impact on the lives of our residents,” said the mayor.
The money is in addition to the $125 million surplus for this year’s budget that came from unexpected property tax revenue.
But that doesn’t mean everything is perfectly fine, said the mayor’s Budget Director Ashley Groffenberger.
She told KCBS Radio that they are still projecting a $653 million deficit.
“This is of course a significant projected shortfall, but luckily much less stark than the $1.5 billion shortfall we were facing last year, and balanced all without layoffs or major service reductions,” Groffenberger said.
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