Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2005. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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San Francisco Examiner - July 18, 2005
By Jo Stanley, jstanley@examiner.com
The late deals still must be approved at today's Board of Supervisors meeting, at which members will make their final attempt to salvage city services that the mayor's $5.3 billion budget would leave behind.
The deal was the latest revision to the budget in recent days. One of the unlikeliest developments of the budget season - a sudden announcement from Sacramento that instead of no vehicle license fee repayments, The City would be getting two years' worth, or $29.5 million - came after the Budget and Finance Committee wrapped up its official discussions in late June.
On July 1, committee Chair Tom Ammiano joined Mayor Gavin Newsom to announce more than $13 million of the unexpected windfall would go to struggling schools. The cash influx to the struggling school district essentially was a loan against money the schools would be getting anyway next summer under the voter-approved Proposition H.
Ammiano, a former teacher and school board member, said he believed "at first blush" that he'd have the majority of supervisors he needed to put the last-minute schools proposal into effect. He plans to introduce a new motion at today's meeting.
"I think everyone wants to do something to help the kids," he said.
Although Muni's proposal to hike standard fares by 25 cents this fall drew some of the most blistering public reactions during the entire budget season, it appears that plan is set go forward despite ongoing criticism from certain transit and riders' groups.
A $29.7 million surprise
The first public hearing on a plan for spending an unexpected state revenue windfall comes at today's Board of Supervisors meeting. Here's what's on the table so far:
1) $13.3 million proposed as an advance to schools on The City's 2006-07 Proposition H payment
2) $11 million restored to the mayor's $52 million capital-improvement program, which was initially reduced by slowing or postponing these and at least nine other projects:
* new generators for the Fire Department and the Hall of Justice
* a new skilled nursing facility for General Hospital
* citywide streetscape improvements
* a fiber optic network
3) $3.7 million returned to The City's "Rainy Day" fund because the minimum "worst-case" threshold was no longer met.
4) $1 million tapped to offset an assessor's property-tax grant that didn't come through.
5) $500,000 that could be used in a variety of ways, including keeping the workers' compensation clinic open and granting a living wage increase for city contractors' employees.
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Source: Mayor's Budget Office
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