‘Deep concerns’ over San Francisco budget changes

During Wednesday’s Budget and Finance Committee meeting, which lasted 16 hours, supervisors finally approved the budget around 2 a.m. Thursday. Among other amendments made to the mayor’s proposed budget, the committee agreed on using $59 million from the city’s Business Tax Stabilization funds to pay for raises for city workers.

The committee also approved an additional $750,000 in the budget to expand the city’s Tenant Right to Counsel program, approved by voters under 2018’s Proposition F, providing financial resources for tenants needing legal representation. Under Breed’s budget proposal, the program would’ve faced cuts by as much as $1 million.

“We are taking a major step forward to making sure every tenant facing eviction gets legal representation,” Supervisor Dean Preston said in a statement. Preston authored the 2018 Tenant Right to Counsel ballot measure.

On Thursday morning, Breed responded to the budget amendments, taking issue with the $59 million in tax reserves being allocated to workers, suggesting the funds could be needed for other initiatives as uncertainty remains around how long the pandemic will last. Breed had previously said delaying wage increases for city workers would prevent any layoffs.