Fire commission: $23 million in new initiatives, $8 million for community paramedicine in signed budget

At the San Francisco Fire Commission meeting on Aug. 11, 2021, Department finance lead Mark Corso told commissioners that the mayor had signed the city budget and the department was allotted roughly $23,000,000 in new initiatives and about 50 new full-time positions.

"We're looking at approximately $23,000,000 in new initiatives overall and approximately 50 new FTE," said Mark Corso, finance and planning, summarizing allocations that include an estimated $8,000,000 to expand community paramedicine programs. Corso said about 35 positions are associated with that investment and another 10 FTEs were allocated specifically to ambulance staffing to address operational gaps.

Chief of Department Janine Nicholson and Corso said the funding also includes roughly $6,000,000 toward the city's or port's portion of a fire-training facility and a renewed multi-year fleet and equipment replacement program (about $7,000,000 in the first year and $3,000,000 in the second). Corso said departments are working with the controller’s office to load funding into the system so initiatives can begin to ramp up during the fiscal year.

Commissioners welcomed the allocations. Commissioner Ken Cleveland praised new EMS staffing levels and the planned expansion of street crisis response teams; Commissioner Francie Covington thanked staff and unions for advancing items that she said address long-standing operational needs.

The department said the community paramedicine expansion will formalize the street crisis, wellness and opioid response teams into a larger division with dedicated staff and infrastructure. Corso said the investment aims to move those efforts from program pilot status into a sustained division with the personnel and tools to operate citywide.

Next steps outlined at the meeting include finalizing interagency agreements for the training facility (state approvals and a subject-matter-expert RFP were cited) and implementing hiring and training sequences tied to the new FTEs. Corso said some initiatives will phase up as hires are made and program components come online.

Commissioners and staff said they would report back as milestones are reached and as budgetary allocations are loaded into the city’s financial system.