Tackling the Budget Deficit

I first took office as District 1 supervisor in 2021, first became a member of the Board of Supervisors’ Budget Committee in 2022 and became the Committee chair in 2023. Since then, I have overseen three fiscal years of the City’s budget during some of the most volatile times in San Francisco – from COVID-19 recovery through the attacks and funding cuts from the Trump Administration.

Together, under two different mayoral administrations, my team and I have closed out budget deficits of more than $800 million and reached agreement after agreement to balance budgets that were supported by an overwhelming majority of the Board of Supervisors under two different board presidents. We delivered a balanced annual budget of almost $16 billion while prioritizing city services for the most vulnerable communities and serving our neighborhoods equitably.

Now, we are at a pivotal moment in which our controller reports project that the City’s budget trajectory is finally trending in a better direction. But to keep this positive progress, we need continuing, strong leadership to get us through another difficult budget year. I am committed to supporting Mayor Daniel Lurie, Board President Rafael Mandelman and all my colleagues on the Board of Supervisors as Budget chair. Together, we can successfully serve our residents and continue to deliver a balanced, equitable budget.

This is why I have every intention to guide the City through another challenging year as the Budget Committee chair. But it is also why I plan to step down as Committee chair in August of 2026 after we complete this year’s budget process. In order for our City to continue to progress, my colleagues on the Board must take on new leadership roles on the committee and learn to make the difficult but critical choices needed to shape future budgets.

Although the public-facing fiscal-year budget conversations at the Board of Supervisors begin in June, as Budget chair, my team and I have already started the conversation with the Mayor’s Office. As we tackle the fiscal year of 2026-2027, I am presenting the following budget recommendations and priorities to Mayor Lurie and his team as they are putting together this year’s budget proposal.

Chop From the Top

For the past few fiscal years, the City has hired managers at twice the rate of essential frontline workers. Before the City continues to reduce its workforce, the City should prioritize the elimination of vacant management positions and other vacant positions and reduce management positions accordingly.

Leverage Federal and State Grants and Funding

The City needs to prioritize services and contracts that receive federal and state grants and maximize our reimbursement rate.

Review Contracts of $1 Million or Less and Consolidate Processes

The City should review and consolidate grant contracts that are $1 million or less to increase accountability, maximize performance and deliverables, reduce administrative costs and eliminate redundancies, while ensuring continued direct services.

Reduce Administrative Costs

The City should immediately eliminate unused cell phone lines, re-evaluate and streamline existing lease agreements for all city departments, consolidate equipment contracts to reduce costs, and aim for efficiency and reduction for related administrative costs.

Invest in Oversight to Reduce Wasteful and Corrupt Spending

The City needs to continue investments in oversight bodies such as commissions, inspectors general, controller auditors, public integrity and whistleblower investigators to reduce corrupt and wasteful spendings as well as reduce the City’s liability.

Streamline Capital Improvement Projects

The City should prioritize existing funding and staffing resources for shovel-ready and near-completion projects and streamline processes to tackle backlogged projects that are critical to public safety before launching new projects that are not design-ready.

Guiding Principles

During the budget process, as Budget Committee chair, I will evaluate and prioritize the City’s budget based on the following:

• Availability and capacity of city services serving immigrants, LGBTQ+ community, seniors and people with disabilities, children and youth, tenants and unhoused people and working families.

• Collective fiscal impact of fee waivers and tax revenue suspensions on housing production, local business revitalization and city services that are critical in delivering public safety.

• The utilization of debt and financing policies including but not limited to bonds, enhanced infrastructure finance districts and certification of participation in correlation with the projection of economic growth for the City.

It has been a great honor to serve our City as your Budget Committee chair. It is truly a job that I love deeply, even as it has been challenging both on a professional and personal level to meet the diverse needs and urgent demands of a City with a wide range of political and ideological spectrums. But because of our shared love and commitment to making San Francisco better with each budget, we always come together in the end.

When they say a budget is a statement of values, it is indeed so for our budget. I am very proud of all of us, all our mayors, board presidents, members on the Board of Supervisors, city department leaders, city workers, service providers and stakeholders, for what we have accomplished to date. Thank you for trusting in me to be your Budget Committee chair. Now, let’s get to work.

Connie Chan represents District 1 on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. She can be reached at 415-554-7410 or chanstaff@sfgov.org.