Seniors Pack City Hall as $11 Million in Program Cuts Loom

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors' Budget & Appropriations Committee held a marathon hearing on proposed cuts to older adult and disability programs — and what they heard was a city on the brink of dismantling the community safety net it built by voter mandate.

• City deficit is $690 million, not the $1 billion figure the mayor's office has been citing, budget director concedes under questioning

• 69 community grants totaling $6.9 million face total elimination under the Mayor's Office of Housing proposal, along with digital equity programs serving nearly 8,000 senior households

• DAS proposes $2.9 million in cuts hitting community centers, LGBTQ pilot programs, workforce training and safety initiatives — the second straight year of significant reductions

• More than 40 public commenters from the Dignity Fund Coalition, Senior and Disability Action, Booker T. Washington and dozens of other organizations oppose the cuts, calling them "penny wise, pound foolish"

• Advocates from Black, LGBTQ and immigrant communities warn cuts will fall hardest on populations already facing systemic disparities

• Supervisors signal skepticism, with Chair Chan calling for revenue increases and Supervisor Sauter demanding "warm handoffs" if services are shifted

The Deficit That Shrank: $1 Billion Becomes $690 Million

San Francisco's budget picture may not be as dire as the mayor's office has been suggesting — and one supervisor forced the administration to say so on the record.

Why it matters: The size of the deficit determines the severity of cuts departments are asked to absorb. A smaller hole means more room to restore funding for programs that serve tens of thousands of low-income seniors and people with disabilities.

Where things stand: Mayor's Budget Director Sophia Kittler told the committee that departments were asked to identify $400 million in ongoing spending reductions. But when Supervisor Shamann Walton pressed her on the administration's repeated use of the "$1 billion deficit" figure, Kittler acknowledged the number has dropped significantly.

"You are correct, Supervisor, that the two-year deficit was in the nine hundreds in December and through a number of good news on fund balance, some underspending, some good revenue news, that is no longer $1 billion," said Budget Director Sophia Kittler. "You are correct to correct me that we should be using a closer to $690 million number."

Supervisor Walton made clear why the distinction matters: "That billion-dollar number is very scary, and I just think it can be deceptive in terms of what we're working towards for the next two-year budget."

Kittler defended the overall process, noting the administration is still in an evaluation phase through June 1 and that nothing is final until the mayor introduces the budget. But she was candid about the constraints: "We do not believe that there is a lot of fat in the budget. We cannot afford all of the things that we do."

The Dignity Fund — the voter-approved charter mechanism designed to protect senior services — sits at roughly $78 million in the current proposal. That exceeds the charter-mandated floor of $71 million, but falls below what the fund would have reached without prior suspensions approved by the Board. Kittler framed the allocation as the city meeting its legal obligations; advocates framed it as the city shortchanging the voters' intent.

Decisions: No binding action was taken. The hearing was filed on a motion by Supervisor Danny Sauter, seconded by Supervisor Walton (For: 4, Against: 0, Absent: 1 — Supervisor Rafael Mandelman excused). Chair Connie Chan closed by putting an even finer point on the deficit: "We're not facing a billion-dollar deficit. We're facing in the next two years roughly about $642.8 million of deficits. That's not to say it is not serious. Absolutely. We must manage that." She called for revenue increases rather than accepting the proposed cuts.

What's next: The mayor's office is expected to introduce the full budget by June 1. The hearing established a detailed public record that supervisors can leverage during negotiations to push for restorations.

69 Grants on the Chopping Block: MOHCD Proposes Wiping Out Community Services Portfolio

The Mayor's Office of Housing and Community Development is proposing to eliminate its entire Community Based Services portfolio — 69 grants worth $6.9 million — along with digital equity programs, totaling $8.5 million in permanent general fund reductions.

The basics: MOHCD's Housing division receives no general fund support, so all proposed cuts fall on the Community Development side. Three program areas would be eliminated entirely: the 69-grant community-based services portfolio, digital equity programs including fiber-to-housing and digital skills training, and community facility capital improvements. Three staff positions would also be cut.

Why it matters: The programs serve nearly 7,900 residents, 46% of whom are older adults. The fiber-to-housing program alone connects 211 affordable housing sites — reaching nearly 20,000 units, of which approximately 8,000 households are seniors — with free internet service.

Where things stand: MOHCD Director of Policy and Legislative Affairs Sheila Nicolopoulos presented mid-year utilization data and confirmed the scope. When Supervisor Sauter asked whether the community-based services cuts constituted a full program elimination, Nicolopoulos was direct: "It would be a program elimination, yes."

Kittler noted that some fiber-to-housing infrastructure would continue under the Department of Technology's budget, but the MOHCD support staff and digital equity training components would be gone.

The other side: Supervisor Sauter pressed on transition planning for the thousands of affected residents and community-based organization partners and was told the department is still developing a plan. He emphasized the need for accountability: "I want to make sure that there's actually the follow-through and the transition and a warm handoff so that the other department actually understands that it is their core competency."

During public comment, Laura Kiera, executive director of Legal Assistance to the Elderly, reported that her organization's MOHCD housing preservation grant faces a 70% cut. She said 60% of their calls involve housing threats and that many callers don't qualify for the city's tenant right to counsel program. She described one case of a senior whose rent was raised from $1,300 to $8,000 per month.

What's next: The elimination would take effect in the upcoming fiscal year if the mayor's budget proposal is adopted by the Board. Supervisors signaled they will scrutinize whether adequate transition plans exist before accepting the cuts.

DAS: Second Year of Cuts Targets Community Centers, LGBTQ Programs and Workforce Training

The Department of Disability and Aging Services laid out $2.9 million in proposed discretionary spending reductions — and acknowledged this is the second straight year of painful cuts to the community organizations it funds.

The basics: DAS serves approximately 55,000 individuals through more than 65 community-based organizations holding roughly 245 contracts worth $104 million annually. The $2.9 million target is DAS's share of an $8.5 million reduction across the Human Services Agency.

Why it matters: The proposed cuts touch nearly every corner of the department's community-facing work: community center evening and weekend hours (50% reduction), neighborhood-based programs, the LGBTQ Community Services pilot, the Adult Day Health Center pilot, Digital Navigators, the SF Reserve workforce program (roughly 50% cut), video doorbells, and the Senior Escort program (12.5% cut). An estimated 2,400 program enrollments could be affected.

Where things stand: DAS Deputy Director Cindy Kaufman described the criteria the department used: protecting core services mandated by the Older Americans Act, reviewing budget growth, assessing pilot programs, and examining overlapping services. No cuts were proposed to caregiver support, housing support, or nutrition and wellness — though Kaufman noted flat funding for nutrition "feels like a cut" due to inflation.

"This is our second year of significant cuts to discretionary funding, which ultimately affects services," said Deputy Director Kaufman. "Last year, DAS reduced over $2.5 million in CBO contracts and nearly $800,000 through contract attrition."

She also acknowledged the emotional weight of the decisions: "I am open to hearing anything and everything they have to say. For them, they are being impacted. For us, we know we are impacting them."

DAS Executive Director Kelly Dearman presented utilization and demographic data showing the department's clients are disproportionately BIPOC and low-income, with 80% at low to moderate income levels — a detail that would become central to the equity arguments raised during public comment.

What's next: DAS leadership indicated they used a framework of protecting federally mandated core services while targeting pilots and programs with potential overlap elsewhere. But advocates challenged whether the "pilot" label is accurate for programs that have operated successfully for years.

"Not on the Backs of Poor People": Advocates Sound the Alarm on Equity

The public comment period stretched for hours as more than 40 speakers — seniors, nonprofit leaders, domestic workers, and a teenager — delivered pointed, emotional testimony against the proposed cuts. The central argument: preventive community services cost a fraction of the emergency, institutional and homeless services that would replace them.

Why it matters: The testimony wasn't just emotional — it was data-driven. Multiple speakers cited outcome figures showing 98% of community service clients report positive health impacts, that isolated seniors cost Medicare $6.7 billion more annually, and that nearly half of San Francisco's single unhoused adults are over 50. The U.S. Surgeon General's declaration of a loneliness epidemic was invoked repeatedly.

Prevention Math

Christina Irving, co-chair of the Dignity Fund Coalition, framed the fiscal case bluntly: 99% of Senior Escort clients report feeling safer, and every dollar spent on prevention returns up to $14 in avoided costs downstream. Jenny Belway, executive director of San Francisco Village, cited the $6.7 billion annual Medicare cost of senior isolation.

Kate Cookrow, co-executive director of the Community Living Campaign, noted cuts are compounding across DAS, Public Health, the Office of Economic and Workforce Development, and other departments. Her organization faces a $500,000-per-year cut — a 50% reduction to the SF Reserve Workforce Program. Jamie Goddard, director of the SF Reserve program, said 87% of participants report the program income is critical to their financial stability and called it "wishful thinking" that other workforce programs would absorb displaced participants.

Disproportionate Impact

The equity case was sharp. Brett Martinez, senior wellness program manager at Booker T. Washington Community Service Center — which has served the Black community in the Fillmore for 107 years — told the committee that over 60% of participants are Black seniors. DAS plans to eliminate their $147,000 neighborhood centers grant.

"We urge DAS and the city not to balance their budget on the backs of poor people and off the necks of Black people," said Brett Martinez.

Dan Gallagher, CEO of Stepping Stone Health, presented data from the Dignity Fund Community Needs Assessment showing LGBTQ participation rates are only half the general eligibility rate, with 53% of LGBTQ adults with disabilities reporting insufficient social contact as an unmet need. Their DAS pilot program, he said, has met 99% of performance standards over nine years — raising questions about whether "pilot" is the right label for a nearly decade-old initiative.

Members of the California Domestic Workers Coalition, including several Spanish-speaking immigrant women, testified about the connection between domestic worker support programs and senior and disability services.

Revenue Alternatives

Several speakers rejected the premise that cuts are the only path forward. Eric Greenfrost, executive director of Senior and Disability Action and a People's Budget Coalition member, argued the $3 million Dignity Fund increase alone could cover all proposed DAS cuts. He called for taxing wealthy residents and corporations and using reserves. Anya Worley Zigman, also from the People's Budget Coalition, did not mince words, calling the situation "disgusting and disturbing" that seniors must "beg for scraps in the city that they built."

Youth Programs, Too

The hearing also surfaced proposed cuts beyond senior services. Ziggy Brown, a 16-year-old YouthWorks intern, delivered one of the most striking moments of the meeting, speaking about the program's proposed 80% cut ($2 million of a $2.4 million budget). Alexis Moore, an SF YouthWorks employment coordinator, said the cuts would reduce placements from 450 to 80 per year, with a summer program that draws 1,200 applicants left with just 30 slots.

Minor Items

• Supervisor Mandelman excused: The committee voted 4-0 to excuse Supervisor Rafael Mandelman from the meeting.

• Items not discussed: A Fire Department overtime and salary reallocation ($10.4 million in overtime, offset by $8.8 million in de-appropriations) and a $2.5 million city loan to the San Francisco Zoological Society were listed on the agenda under the 30-Day Rule but were not taken up.