© 2024 KALW 91.7 FM Bay Area
KALW Public Media / 91.7 FM Bay Area
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Bay Area Governments Start Slashing Their Budgets

KP Tripathi
/
Creative Commons
San Francisco, as well as other local governments, are pondering budget cuts

The financial fallout from the pandemic has hit local governments hard. And some are already making major cuts.

San Francisco’s Deputy Budget Director Ashley Groffenberger said Wednesday that all city departments must cut their budgets by 10 percent in the next fiscal year and 15 the year after.

The cuts don’t apply to the Municipal Transportation Agency or the Public Utilities Commission because they generate their own revenues.

Groffenberger told the board of supervisors at a virtual budget meeting that the Mayor’s goal is to pare down services while keeping equity top of mind.

“The big take away from from this presentation is that the upcoming budget is going to require really tough and painful choices," she said. "But really just the big takeaway from from this presentation is that the upcoming budget is going to require really tough and painful choices, while also requiring us to reevaluate the way we do business as a city."

The city has frozen hiring and asked all departments to reexamine their contracts. Public hearings on the budget will be held in August.

Meanwhile, Palo Alto’s city manager proposed cutting his own salary by 20 percent and other top management’s by 15 percent after facing a backlash from residents over earlier proposed cuts to services.

Sarah Lai Stirland is a freelance journalist and editor living in the South Bay. Her reporting background is in technology, science writing, law and policy. For the past few years, she's written about issues related to aging.