San Francisco’s mayor has ordered city departments, including police and public health, to propose $206 million in budget cuts by next week in a desperate bid to reverse the stricken city’s “doom run” spiral into economic collapse .
Law enforcement budgets in the city, which has been plagued by homelessness, drugs and an exodus of downtown businesses, are facing cuts of $27.6 million, while the Department of Health could lose another $25.9 million , according to an analysis by DailyMail.com.
The fire department must propose savings of about $10.5 million to meet the mayor’s demand, while the city’s crumbling municipal transit agency must find savings of $15.5 million, a review of official figures shows.
In an Oct. 11 letter, Mayor London Breed ordered departments to propose massive cuts to this year’s budgets to prevent San Francisco from reaching a $500 million deficit by 2025.
The radical cuts mark an embarrassing change of direction for Breed, who is now forced to tear up the record-breaking $14.6 billion annual budget she signed just three months ago. Department heads across the city have until Thursday, October 26 to propose their cuts.
A DailyMail.com analysis of the cuts facing key departments in San Francisco shows police need to find savings of $18.5 million and public health budgets could lose $26 million
In a letter to department heads ordering the cuts, Mayor London Breed said: ‘We simply cannot wait until next year’s budget process to address our growing structural deficit.’
The department that addresses homelessness, a major problem in the city’s core, faces $9 million in budget cuts (Photo: A homeless encampment in the Tenderloin District on August 28)
“We simply cannot wait until next year’s budget process to address our growing structural deficit, which currently stands at at least $500 million in the 2025-2026 fiscal year alone,” Breed wrote.
She has also ordered departments to take other cost-cutting measures, including a pause on hiring for some vacant positions, limiting spending on city employees and deactivating unused cell phone lines.
The measures come amid a broader economic crisis in San Francisco, which economists are calling a “doom loop.” The term refers to a city’s decline when tax revenues decline as residents and businesses leave, causing revenues to decline in a downward spiral that is difficult to reverse.
DailyMail.com has previously reported that the city will lose $200 million annually due to the exodus of businesses, which has driven major hotels and retailers to flee the downtown area. Meanwhile, once-thriving areas have been taken over by drug-fueled homeless camps, leading to a rise in overdose deaths.
Breed said in her letter to department heads that “San Francisco’s economic realities remain challenging” and that budget cuts are “necessary… to ensure we can meet the needs of our residents while being financially responsible.” ‘
The letter asks departments to propose reductions of at least three percent in the General Fund aid they receive. The General Fund is the money over which the mayor and board of supervisors have control over spending, and totaled about $6.8 billion this fiscal year.
A map shows the major companies that have left or are planning to leave downtown San Francisco
A three percent reduction equates to approximately $206 million in cuts citywide.
An analysis of the amount each city department received from the general fund this year shows that the San Francisco Police Department must cut spending by $18.5 million to meet the target. It received $617 million from the General Fund in this year’s budget.
The district attorney’s office, which plays a key role in tackling drug-related crime, would face $2.4 million in cuts, while the sheriff’s office’s cuts could amount to $6.7 million.
Dr. Grant Colfax, the director of the Department of Health, said it needs to identify “$25.9 million in additional revenue or savings” to meet the mayor’s demand.
“As always, DPH will work to avoid reductions in services and maximize revenues,” Dr. Colfax said in a report delivered this week to the city’s health commission.
The Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing was allocated $302 million from the General Fund in this year’s budget. The department would have to propose cuts of $9 million to meet the mayor’s target.
Tracy McCray, president of the San Francisco Police Officers Association union, told DailyMail.com: “As our city tries to regain the upper hand over the drug and crime epidemic it has suffered for far too long, any cuts that impact on the ability of the SFPD Hiring, retaining, training or equipping our officers, or putting enough officers on the street to respond to, prevent and investigate crimes, must be rejected.
“And as we finally prosecute criminals and keep them in jail, and as we desperately try to get medical care and services to the addicts dying on the streets, this should also apply to the district attorney, the sheriff, the fire department, and the police . Public health. Otherwise, we will throw away all the good work we have done to stem the tide of criminals who are sucking the life out of our city.”
Breed’s office did not respond to requests for comment.