February 5, 2024
To: Members of the Ethics Commission
From: Patrick Ford, Executive Director
Subject: Agenda Item 8 – Presentation, public hearing, and possible action on Ethics Commission budget proposal for the Fiscal Year 2024-25 and Fiscal Year 2025-26
Summary and Action Requested
This item provides an opportunity for the Commission to be briefed and receive public comment on the department’s budget proposal for Fiscal Years 2024-25 (FY25) and 2025-26 (FY26). No action is required at this public hearing. This item has been noticed for both discussion and possible action should the Commission wish to take action at this meeting.
Background Information
Departmental budget submissions for the Fiscal Years that begin July 1, 2024 and end June 30, 2026 must be submitted to the Mayor’s Office by Tuesday, February 21, 2024. As part of the annual budget submission process, departments are required to hold two hearings to receive public input on their budget priorities and budget proposals, respectively. The Commission held its first public hearing to receive feedback on the Commission’s budget priorities on Wednesday, January 24, 2024, in which staff provided a memo and a detailed presentation regarding the Commission’s funding overview, organizational structure, budgetary needs, Mayor’s budget instructions to City departments, and impact of the required target cuts on the department’s operations.
The Commission has scheduled a second public hearing for the department’s FY25-FY26 budget proposal at its regular monthly meeting on Friday, February 9, 2024. The information provided in this meeting must include description of the agency’s divisions; budget totals and major changes including new or reduced initiatives and staffing changes; changes in service levels; projected salary savings; and how the agency is meeting budget instruction targets.
Mayor’s Budget Instructions
The Mayor issued annual budget instructions to City departments for FY25 and FY26 on December 13, 2023. The City is projecting a budget shortfall of approximately $799 million with a $245 million deficit in the first year and $554 million in the second year. Therefore, City departments are required to propose cuts of 10% in FY25 and FY26 from their General Fund budgets. An additional proposed contingency cut of 5% is required each year as well. The budget instructions to departments are outlined below.
- Reduce general fund support by ongoing 10% in each year.
- Submit contingency proposals of ongoing 5% in each year.
- Do not add new FTE positions.
- Focus on core department operations & services. Eliminate costs supporting non-essential, discretionary or redundant service areas.
The priorities that the Mayor has identified for the City are below.
- Improving public safety and street conditions.
- Citywide economic vitality.
- Reducing homelessness and transforming mental health service delivery.
- Accountability & equity in services and spending.
Following submission of the budget proposals, the Mayor’s Budget Office will evaluate the requests and develop the Mayor’s proposed balanced budget to submit to the Board by June 1, 2024. The Board of Supervisors then considers the budget and must send a balanced budget back to the Mayor for signature by August 1, 2024.
Department’s Budget Proposal
The Ethics Commission’s budget proposal for FY25 and FY26 is detailed in Attachment I which outlines changes to programs, staffing, organization structure, and budget totals; projected savings; and approaches to meet the target cuts. An overview of the Commission’s divisions also appears in Attachment II.
We look forward to receiving feedback from the Commission and public as part of finalizing our budget submission. Written comment on the Commission’s budget proposal may be submitted to ethics.commission@sfgov.org.