San Francisco Finalizes $17 Billion Budget, Restores Millions in Proposed Cuts

“Last summer, just as our city was getting back on track, the federal government cut hundreds of millions of dollars from healthcare and food assistance that San Franciscans rely on,” Mayor Daniel Lurie said in a statement. “Facing those cuts and threats of more, we chose to strengthen the social safety net and invest in our LGBTQ+ and immigrant communities.”

The deal came after weeks of protests from advocates, city union members, and nonprofits all aimed at stopping reductions to government services and proposed cuts to nonprofits that contract with the city.

The funding restored at the final hour also continues support for Free City College, funding for HIV prevention work and the California Academy of Sciences.

Lurie’s initial budget proposal had included around 500 layoffs. Earlier this year, 127 workers received pink slips, and others were notified about changes to their positions.

In the final add-back, the mayor and supervisors agreed to reverse layoffs for workers at the 311 call center, Laguna Honda Hospital, and the Human Services Agency, according to the office of Supervisor Connie Chan, who chairs the budget committee.

“This budget represents a remarkable victory for every single San Francisco resident,” said Anya Worley-Ziegmann, coordinator for the San Francisco People’s Budget Coalition, a group representing unions, social services advocates and other community groups protesting the proposed cuts. “It shows that public pressure works. Showing up works.”

The plan is set to go before the full Board of Supervisors on July 21. Few changes are expected for the final budget vote next month following Thursday’s agreement.

“Over the past 4 fiscal years, my work as budget chair has been centered on reducing wasteful spending, creating guardrails against corruption, saving for the future by putting reasonable dollars on reserve, reversing cuts for the most vulnerable San Franciscans and saving essential city jobs and services,” Chan, who has served as budget chair since 2023, said in a statement. This is her final budget as chair. “We have been successful with this work.”

The mayor and advocates said there is still much work to do to get the city on a stronger financial footing.

In a statement, Lurie said the city must still focus on strengthening Muni and affordable public transportation “to keep our recovery moving forward.” Throughout the budget cycle, the mayor has emphasized that difficult decisions and cuts are necessary in order for the city to stop spending money that it doesn’t have.

Others say the solution should not be to trim down essential programs and cut jobs, but instead to increase city revenue through taxes and other measures. Worley-Ziegmann pointed out that not all of the proposed cuts were restored, and next year’s fiscal budget is still projected to be a deficit.

“San Francisco is one of the wealthiest cities in the wealthiest country in the world, and with the AI boom, it’s only getting richer,” Worley-Ziegmann said. “We need to be talking about IPO taxes, wealth taxes, mansion taxes and every policy tool available to close future deficits.”