San Francisco, CA — Mayor London N. Breed and Supervisor Rafael Mandelman today introduced a mid-year budget supplemental to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors to offset the costs of two special elections expected to be held in early 2022. The $12 million proposal, which calls for $5.1 million in repurposed funds and $6.9 million from the City’s General Reserve, would cover the costs of the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) Board of Education recall, and the District 17 State Assembly vacancy and San Francisco Assessor-Recorder special elections.

“I have made it clear from the beginning of the pandemic, we need to focus on educating our students, supporting our workforce, and reopening our City,” said Mayor Breed. “During this critical time, we need to ensure that the cost of the school board recall does not fall on the backs of our children, which is why we are stepping in to make sure that this funding goes directly to our students.”

Today’s proposal comes as SFUSD faces a state takeover amid a $125 million shortfall for FY 2022-2023. Currently, SFUSD is responsible for incurring the total cost of the upcoming School Board recall. With financial assistance from the City, SFUSD can prioritize their time and resources on other matters.

“Whether you agree or disagree with school board recall, we should all agree that our students shouldn’t bear the financial burden of the election. This supplemental will ensure that the Department of Elections is fully funded to do its important work without harming SFUSD students, families, and workers,” said Supervisor Mandelman.

Expected to occur in February 2022, the School Board recall election will include the District 17 State Assembly vacancy primary and a special election for San Francisco Assessor-Recorder. A second general election is expected to be held in June 2022 to finalize City Attorney David Chiu’s replacement as District 17 State Assemblymember.

If approved by the Board of Supervisors, the budget supplemental will allocate $6.9 million in new funds from the City’s General Reserve and repurpose $5.1 million previously budgeted to offset costs from the Gubernatorial recall to cover two elections expected in 2022, one in February and one in April. These funds would cover election-related costs, including staffing, ballot printing and postage, security, polling locations, among others costs. The City was reimbursed by the state of California for the costs of the Gubernatorial recall.

The supplemental will need to be heard and approved by the Board’s Budget and Finance committee before going to the Board of Supervisors for a final vote. The Mayor will request the supplemental be heard as soon as possible to ensure that the City is prepared for the upcoming elections.

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