Mayor London Breed announced yesterday her budget proposal for Fiscal Years (FY) 2021-2022 and 2022-2023.During the announcement, she was joined by City officials and members of the community at Willie ‘Woo Woo’ playground in Chinatown.
Posting on her Twitter account, she commented;
The budget doesn't always get the most attention in terms of what happens at City Hall, but it's usually the most important thing we do every year. We're making bold, significant investments in the most pressing issues facing our city.
The two year budget proposal allocates City resources to the economic recovery of San Francisco as it emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic. It also includes new investments to support priority areas such as public safety, mental health, homelessness, housing, as well as supporting children, youth and their families.
Mayor London Breed said via statement;
As we move forward out of the pandemic this budget will ensure that our recovery is equitable and that we are delivering solutions to the most important issues impacting our city. We’re making significant investments to reduce homelessness, expand mental health support, support public safety, and address the social inequities laid bare by this pandemic, while also making responsible choices that maintain our budget reserves so we can continue providing critical City services and support for our most vulnerable residents, no matter what lies ahead.
These are some of the investments proposed for the priority areas in the budget;
Equitable Economic Recovery
The Mayor’s proposed budget includes approximately $477 million over the two years for various initiatives to drive and accelerate the City’s economic recovery.
According to the City, these initiatives include; “Community Ambassadors and events and activities to enliven San Francisco’s downtown, backfilling the loss of hotel tax revenue for the arts, addressing student learning loss, the Women and Families First Initiative, incentivizing the return of conventions at the Moscone Center, a new Trans Basic Income pilot program, and continuing the JobsNow workforce program and Working Families Credit”.
They have confirmed that there is also a significant amount of money that will be spent to continue the City’s COVID-19 shelter response, food security programs, vaccination efforts, testing operations, and the COVID-19 Command Center.
Investments in Homelessness and Housing
In order to address the issue of homelessness in San Francisco, Mayor Breed has said that "the budget leverages over $1 billion over the next two years in local, state, and federal resources to add up to 4,000 new housing placements, prevent homelessness and eviction for over 7,000 households, support additional safe parking sites, and fund the continuation of a new 40-bed emergency shelter for families".
Mental Health and Substance Use Support
Around $300 million will be allocated to new investments for behavioral health services. “Included in the budget is funding to prevent overdoses through medication assisted treatment, a drug sobering site, and expanded naloxone distribution. The budget also includes funding to support new and existing Street Response Teams, including the Street Crisis Response Team, Street Wellness Response Team, and Street Overdose Response Team”.
Public Safety, Victims’ Services, and Justice Innovations
The proposed budget includes over $65 million over the two years to prevent violence, offer support to victims, maintain police staffing levels, and strengthen the City’s non-law enforcement response to non-criminal activity via the Street Response Teams. The City plans on creating an Office of Justice Innovation “to oversee, implement and work with community to increase this priority work”.
Supporting Children, Youth, and Their Families
As well as keeping the current City’s investments in children and youth, around $144 million will be allocated over the two years to lay the foundations for early education and universal preschool in San Francisco.
In the proposed budget there was also funding available to support long-term economic justice strategies such as the Dream Keeper Initiative, and investing in capital projects and affordable housing developments in San Francisco.
The proposed budget is the result of a collaborative work with elected officials, City departments, non-profit organizations, neighborhood groups, merchants, residents, and other stakeholders.