FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Wednesday, August 1, 2018
Contact: Mayor’s Office of Communications, 415-554-6131

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MAYOR LONDON BREED SIGNS BUDGET TARGETING HOMELESSNESS, HOUSING, STREET CLEANLINESS, AND PUBLIC SAFETY
Two-year budget responsibly funds vital City services while making targeted investments in the Mayor’s top priorities

San Francisco, CA— Mayor London N. Breed signed into law the City and County of San Francisco’s two-year balanced budget, an $11 billion framework for both Fiscal Year 2018-19 and Fiscal Year 2019-20. The budget advances a number of Mayor Breed’s priorities, including expanding shelter and services to address the homelessness crisis, creating more housing and keeping residents housed, and investing in programs to keep they City clean and safe.

“This budget will address our most pressing issues while also making a number of critical investments in our future,” said Mayor Breed. “What we see on our streets is unacceptable and these budget investments are a key step to ensuring that San Franciscans see and feel a difference in all of our neighborhoods.”

“This $11 billion budget is a reflection of the values of the City of St. Francis, supporting the City’s most vulnerable with compassion and problem solving. It is the result of a robust, transparent, and inclusive process, with open and vigorous discussion of our priorities,” said Board President Malia Cohen. “I’m proud of our investments to reduce street homelessness, champion public safety for all citizens, clean our streets and parks, and keep our commitment to the residents of San Francisco.”

Mayor Breed worked to ensure $60 million in new funding for critical homelessness service programs over the next two years. This includes funds to create 430 new permanent supportive housing units, $4.4 million to fund the operation of a new Navigation Center for Transitional Age Youth, and $2 million to create two new access points to connect families and residents struggling with homelessness to support and services. To quickly help those who have fallen into homelessness, $12 million is also allocated to rapid re-housing programs.

Keeping residents housed is a key component of addressing the homelessness crisis. Building on these efforts, the budget includes $5.8 million to fund a right to counsel for tenants facing eviction and $1 million to help stabilize residential care providers, which will ensure over 350 people continue to be housed and cared for.  

The Mayor’s budget renews the City’s commitment to affordable housing by investing more than $800 million to construct and preserve nearly 3,000 units of affordable housing, which is critical at a time that state and federal resources for affordable housing have been drastically reduced.

Another top priority for Mayor Breed is ensuring that San Franciscans see a noticeable improvement in street cleanliness. The Mayor’s budget funds an additional $13 million for comprehensive street cleaning, including 44 new neighborhood street cleaners split across all 11 Supervisorial Districts, five new Pit Stops (staffed public restrooms), extended hours at five existing Pit Stops, and expanded operations by the City’s needle clean-up team.

Mayor Breed recently announced an additional $725,000 to expand and strengthen the City’s Fix-It team, which works with neighbors to quickly respond to quality of life issues. The Mayor’s budget also includes $6 million to create a dedicated street medicine team, a first in the nation program to bring treatment to people suffering from addiction on the streets.

Furthermore, the Mayor’s budget makes smart investments to ensure public safety. This includes a strategic plan that will deploy 250 new police officers. Over the next two years, residents will notice an increase in neighborhood patrols and additional staffing will be added to address violent crime and property crime. At the same time, the budget funds $1.7 million to fully implement the 272 policing reforms recommended by the Obama Justice Department and $1.5 million to create four new positions at the Department of Police Accountability, which audits police use-of-force and officer misconduct policies.

The budget continues Mayor Breed’s work as Supervisor to improve ambulance response times by allocating funding to increase San Francisco’s emergency response efforts, because no one should have to wait for help in times of emergency. It adds personnel resources at the Department of Emergency Management and the 3-1-1 call center, and allocates $1.5 million for the Fire Department to staff a Medical Assistance Response Team to quickly respond to service calls in the Tenderloin and Civic Center, the areas most in need of assistance.

The Mayor’s budget funds the continuation of long-term infrastructure investments, continues the City’s commitment to responsible fiscal management, and makes targeted investments in the Mayor’s top priorities. The signing is the culmination of months of work that began under the leadership of the late Mayor Ed Lee with guidance by the Board of Supervisors Budget and Finance Committee, chaired by Board President Malia Cohen.

Mayor Breed signed the budget at Bishop Swing Community House, a permanent supportive housing location. The budget provides additional operating support to providers like Bishop Swing to meet the service needs of formerly homeless individuals and families.

The budget was passed on second reading by the Board of Supervisors at the July 31^st meeting.

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