Fire Department previews roughly $500M budget, flags $728M citywide shortfall

The San Francisco Fire Department presented an overview of its operating budget and warned commissioners that citywide projections require departmental reductions.

Mark Corso, deputy director of finance and planning, told the commission the city's five-year financial plan projects about a $728 million shortfall over the next two years, and as a result departments were asked to plan for a 5% reduction to general-fund support in the first year (about $6.9 million) and an 8% reduction in the second year (about $11 million). "We have about a half-billion-dollar budget here," Corso said, and he emphasized that the department relies heavily on general-fund support for frontline EMS and fire-suppression services.

Corso walked commissioners through the department's revenue mix (general fund, public-safety sales tax split with police, EMS transport fees, fire-prevention fees, airport and cost-recovery work orders) and explained limited options for significant savings: mandatory minimum staffing, workers' compensation, and essential maintenance and equipment commitments limit flexibility. He noted established fee escalators (medical CPI for ambulance charges and CPI adjustments for fire-prevention fees) but said increases would have only modest effects on the structural gap.

Commissioners pressed on priorities and impacts. Commissioner Paula Collins argued that the department preserves value in the city's built environment and warned that cutting services could increase long-term costs. Vice President Armee Morgan and others asked how commissioners should prioritize the requested cuts; Corso said the commission can support department arguments to the mayor's office and board of supervisors and that staff will continue to refine assumptions and propose targeted options.

The presentation was for discussion; no final budget vote occurred. Staff said the department will submit its package to the mayor's office by Feb. 21 and expects follow-up budget hearings at the Board of Supervisors in June.