Board hears DPA budget showing Inspector General office far smaller than original request

Nicole Armstrong, chief financial officer at the Department of Police Accountability, told the Sheriff Department Oversight Board on Feb. 6 that the proposed budget for the Office of the Inspector General for fiscal year 2026–27 is roughly $1,280,000, with the largest component identified as interdepartmental services.

The budget, Armstrong said, includes two funded positions for the board: the inspector general and a clerk. She described mayoral budget instructions to eliminate discretionary spending, review contracted services and identify redundancies, and said additional staffing and requests will depend on the future hiring of the inspector general.

Board members pressed for more detail. Member (speaker 6) and others noted that the office originally sought about $5 million to establish a fully functioning inspector general operation and asked for a historical footnote and line‑by‑line justification to show how current funding compares to prior requests. "The budget has been pretty much stripped over the years," Armstrong said, adding that interdepartmental work orders with city departments — such as accounting, technology and human resources — make up much of the current cost.

Members also asked for reporting timelines and data that will allow the board to advocate with the mayor's budget office and the Board of Supervisors. Dan, the board staff member who called the roll, reminded the board that the larger IG office budget process will go to the Board of Supervisors in the spring, where public comment is possible.

The board took a separate procedural vote earlier in the meeting to approve the Jan. 9, 2026 meeting minutes with typographical corrections. That motion passed 4–0.

What happens next: Board members requested a more detailed presentation of each line item, attendance and milestone data for programs that feed into milestone credits, and a historical summary of the original funding ask to use when advocating during the mayor and Board of Supervisors budget cycles.