Economic advisers are predicting an L-shaped recovery for San Francisco, and it’s going to involve 25 percent cuts to some city departments, on top of the 730 layoff notices that were sent out between July 2008 and May ’09.
“Staggering” is how Mayor Gavin Newsom described the $746 million deficit that the Mayor’s Office, the Controller and the Budget Analyst are projecting for FY 2011-12.
That number is in a ‘three-year budget projection” report that the Board’s budget committee hears tomorrow.
Controller Ben Rosenfield noted that the report “makes no assumptions about how budgets are going to be solved.”
But, of course, as Newsom pointed out, action will be taken, not just to address FY 2011-12’s $746 million projected deficit, but the $615 million deficit projected for FY 2010-11, and the $438 million deficit projected for FY 2009-10.
And those actions will be the subject of intense debate about priorities and solutions in the weeks to come.
Newsom’s proposed solutions for the upcoming fiscal year, include 12.5 percent budget cuts, plus 12.5 percent contingencies cuts, in some departments.
“I will not be accepting 25 percent cuts from some departments, but from others I will,” Newsom said. “I don’t believe in across-the-board cuts.”
Asked which departments he would accept 25 percent cuts from, Newsom told reporters, “You’ll find out when you read my budget.”