Budget committee approves $6.5M APEC reimbursement gift and releases reserve amid public pushback

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors Budget and Finance Committee on Jan. 24 accepted a $6.5 million gift from the Special Events Committee and released the same amount from committee reserve to reimburse city departments for costs incurred while hosting the Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.

Chair Supervisor Connie Chan, chair of the Budget and Finance Committee, told the committee the funds will cover expenditures the city already incurred and said the committee would forward the accept-and-expend resolution while releasing reserve funds so departments could be reimbursed for overtime and other event costs. "We have to release the reserve to pay the costs already spent," Chan said during committee discussion.

The mayor’s office described the broader fundraising and spending for APEC. Sean Ellsburn, the mayor’s chief of staff, said the Special Events Committee raised about $20.46 million and that "Per San Francisco Travel, we believe the total economic impact of the event was $62,000,000," and asked the committee to follow the Budget Analyst’s recommendation to reimburse city departments.

The Budget and Legislative Analyst (BLA) presented a different, more conservative accounting of net city costs. The BLA told the committee that "citywide departments spent $26,600,000" and that after department offsets and the Special Events Committee donation the net city expenditures were about $25,000,000; the BLA also noted that sales-tax-based economic impact measures will not be available until after March.

The committee recorded a 3–0 vote (Vice Chair Rafael Mandelmann, Supervisor Mirona Malgar and Chair Chan) to accept the gift and release the $6.5 million in reserve funds. Under committee procedure, the accept-and-expend resolution moves to the full Board; the committee declared the reserve release on the record.

Community groups urged a different path. Dozens of speakers urged supervisors to restore modest but targeted midyear funding the mayor proposed cutting—examples cited included roughly $200,000 for youth food security and $400,000 for workforce programs—and to direct remaining APEC reserves to small-business relief and community programs. "Those cuts won’t do anything significant to the budget but will have a massive impact on youth who need food," said Marnie Regan of Larkin Street Youth Services, speaking during the public-comment period. Lucia Obregon of the San Francisco Latino Parity & Equity Coalition added that the proposed cuts "disproportionately affect communities of color and working-class individuals."

Several small-business and neighborhood representatives asked that a portion of the remaining APEC reserve be set aside for an APEC Small Business Resilience Fund; Chair Chan said a supplemental ordinance to craft that program had been introduced and that she intended to pursue it with colleagues.

The committee noted there was no written, binding memorandum of understanding between the city and the Special Events Committee governing spending and reimbursement, though the administration said all receipts and expense records have been documented and shared with the Budget Analyst. The mayor’s office also said it had sought federal reimbursement opportunities but was told no FEMA program exists today to cover convention policing costs.

What happens next: The accept-and-expend resolution will go to the full Board for final action; the committee released reserve funds to allow reimbursement for police, sheriff and Department of Emergency Management overtime and related costs already recorded in department budgets. Chair Chan said she would pursue a supplemental ordinance to create a small-business relief program to address losses raised during public comment.

Votes and outcome: Committee recorded three ayes (Mandelmann, Malgar, Chan). The committee accepted the gift and released the reserve; the accept-and-expend resolution will proceed to the full Board.

Speakers quoted in this article are drawn from the committee record and public comment.