SFFD warns meeting requested cuts would hit frontline services; budget submittal due Feb. 21

San Francisco — Deputy Director of Finance and Planning Mark Corso told the Fire Commission on Jan. 24 the city's fiscal outlook will shape the department's budget discussions this spring.

"The city is projecting approximately an $800,000,000 deficit over the next 2 years," Corso said, and he said departments were instructed to identify ongoing reductions equivalent to 10% of their general-fund reliance, plus a 5% contingency. For the fire department Corso said the 10% target equates to about $12.2 million and the 5% contingency to about $6.12 million.

Corso described the SFFD's operating picture: a roughly $530 million two-year budget, heavy reliance on the general fund (about $366 million), and personnel costs that make up roughly 90% of expenditures. He noted key fund components such as the airport fund (about $36 million) and large work orders that affect flexibility — including a workers' compensation work order (~$17.5M), central-shops vehicle maintenance (~$6.7M) and IT infrastructure costs (~$6.5M).

Commissioners pressed for more detail on large work orders and asked how the department would meet the city's reduction targets without reducing frontline staff. Corso said the department will submit its departmental budget by the Feb. 21 deadline and that the commission will receive a proposal for review at the Feb. 14 meeting; he warned it is unlikely the department can meet the total requested reduction without impacting frontline operations.

No budget adoption vote occurred at the Jan. 24 meeting; Corso said that further negotiations with the mayor's office and additional internal analyses will continue through the spring budget process.

Corso also described the normal timeline for the mayor's and Board of Supervisors' review, and said the mayor is scheduled to submit an administratively balanced budget by June 1 with subsequent hearings before the board.