Muni's Future Rides on Two Ballot Measures as Budget Committee Launches Marathon Review

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors' Budget & Appropriations Committee spent more than three hours on May 13 drilling into two-year spending plans for 13 city departments and four enterprise agencies — and the sharpest exchanges landed on the transit system's bet-it-all revenue strategy, a department merger critics say lacks measurable goals, and a climate team being cut to the bone. All three budget items were continued unanimously to May 20.

• SFMTA budget assumes voters approve both a regional sales tax and a local parcel tax in November; failure would trigger 30% staff cuts, elimination of 20 routes, and no evening bus service after 9 p.m.
• Chair Chan challenges DBI-Planning merger, demanding concrete permit-processing metrics and questioning $7M annual investment in OpenGov system
• Department of the Environment's general fund support has dropped 86% in five years, shrinking its clean transportation team from 5 staff to 1.5
• SFO forecasts a record $60 million payment to the General Fund — its highest ever — while navigating sanctuary city tensions and autonomous vehicle integration
• SFPUC proposes $2.2 billion budget with 10.5% water-sewer rate increase; Clean Power SF rates drop 20–25%
• SF Public Library approaches 15 million annual circulations with a 9.0/10 patron satisfaction score

SFMTA Director Julie Kirschbaum presented a two-year budget unanimously approved by the SFMTA board on April 21 that protects current Muni and paratransit service, free Muni for youth, and free rides for seniors and people with disabilities. But year two revenue projections rest on an assumption that is anything but routine.