San Francisco Mayor Lurie To Spare SFPD, Other Public Safety From Budget Cuts

According to an updated San Francisco city budget plan on Tuesday, several city agencies will get to avoid the 15% mandatory cuts meant to eliminate the $876 million budget deficit, with the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD), San Francisco Fire Department (SFFD), the district attorney’s office and the public defender’s office all maintain funding amounts from the previous year.

Earlier this year, new revised budgetary totals found that San Francisco would be facing a massive budget crisis, with a deficit of well over $800 million. In February, Mayor Daniel Lurie ordered all departments to cut 15% to 20% of their total budgets to help bring the city out of the red by the end of the fiscal year. This decision led to public outcry. While Lurie said he was just maintaining the original stance on the budget that his predecessor, London Breed, had, many city departments began to demand being spared.

With the budget deadline growing closer, many departments began escalating their responses to possible cuts. This escalated even further in April when Lurie asked for even more possible cuts as a federal funding cut by the Trump administration now hung over the city. May proved to also be chaotic, with the Public Defender’s Office protesting by announcing that it will stop taking cases one day per week, the SFPD being found to be out of compliance when it came to overtime spending, and city workers launching multiple mass protests.

This all led to this week where, only days before Lurie’s updated budget is due, it was found that the SFPD, SFFD, the San Francisco Sheriff’s office, the district attorney’s office and the public defender’s office will all be able to avoid budget cuts.

“A difficult budget requires difficult choices, but we must always prioritize the safety of San Franciscans—that’s why our budget will support the men and women in uniform keeping our city safe with absolutely zero cuts to sworn officers,” said Lurie. “No matter what comes our way, we must keep our residents safe and bring our economy back, and that’s what this budget is going to accomplish.

“Public safety and a fair justice system are foundational to San Francisco’s recovery. I am committed to protecting the core services that keep our communities safe — and that includes the people on the front lines, both in the courtroom and on the street.”

According to Lurie’s updated budget plans, the public defender’s budget will go up from the $55.4 million it received in 2024-25, to $57.6 million in 2025-26 and $58.1 million in 2026-27. Similarly, the district attorney’s office will go from $85.7 million in 2024-2025 to $89.2 million in 2025-2026 and $92.4 million in 2026-27.

A huge budget deficit for San Francisco