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
District Attorney Brooke Jenkins, who was at odds with Lurie only a month ago, noted on Tuesday that the new budget plan was acceptable and showed a commitment to justice and public safety in the city.
“Mayor Lurie’s decision not to cut funding to our office is a testament to his commitment to prioritizing public safety and making sure that law enforcement agencies like ours have the staff and resources needed to get the job done,” explained Jenkins. “We have made tremendous strides over the last three years to make our city safer, and I look forward to continue making progress in partnership with Mayor Lurie and the San Francisco Police Department going forward.”
“As of right now public defender’s office not just ours but across the nation have been underfunded so we are playing catchup as it is so a 15% cut from our budget would be devastating,” added chief of staff for the public defender’s office Lyslynn Lacoste. “It would mean a backlog in the courts, it would mean more people not getting quality public defender services which everyone has the right to.”
Other lawmakers supported Mayor Lurie’s budgetary decisions, saying that public safety was one area they couldn’t fall back on, and that improved public safety would lead to improvements everywhere in time.
“We have to spend the money to fix the public safety challenges,” noted Supervisor Matt Dorsey. “Then I’m convinced we’ll see more conventions, more tourists, more commuters, and we’ll see the revenue grow. I know that’s not going to be easy in a very difficult budget year. But I think it’s essential.”
However, while many public safety departments are to be spared cuts, other departments aren’t so lucky, with the city needing to fill the gap by the end of the fiscal year. Mayor Lurie’s updated budget proposal is due by June 1st, with all other city departments expected to see significant drops in terms of funding.