Jake McGoldrick: It is Time to Fight for District's Budget Priorities

Budget matters are front and center beginning this month, with the mayor's budget due June 1 and the Board of Supervisors hosting budget town hall meetings in every district. The recent slowdown in the economy has combined with the energy crisis and the settlement of a lawsuit against the City to create some real challenges around the budget process.

Recently, supervisors faced the difficult decision of whether to settle a lawsuit brought against the City by corporate plaintiffs challenging the constitutionality of the City's business tax. The corporations won at the Superior Court level, receiving a judgment that would have cost the City more than $300 million if it were to be applied to other claimants. Although the City appealed the decision, the board faced a significant possibility that a final decision against the City would devastate our budget for years to come.

Faced with this possibility, the City Attorney negotiated a settlement that would have cost the City just more than $100 million, with remaining claims bringing total costs to $130 million. The Board of Supervisors decided to reject this settlement offer and instructed the City Attorney to offer the plaintiffs 10 percent less than they had demanded. This resulted in the plaintiffs eventually agreeing to a reduced settlement.

Although some supervisors advocated fighting all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, it was my belief that the risks to the people's money were too great to take that course.

As a fiduciary of the people's money, I am charged with making prudent decisions in such circumstances, and thus I voted with the majority (7-3) to cut our losses through what our attorney's described as the best settlement possible.

This settlement, of course, will now affect our budget, as revenues have been reduced by the forced repeal of the business gross receipts tax which is a part of the settlement. This will make the task of supervisors even more difficult this budget cycle when we are faced with huge costs from the energy crisis that have drained many more millions from the budget.

On Saturday, May 19, I heard from many of you concerning your budgetary priorities during our Richmond Town Hall meeting on the budget. This meeting was attended by members of the Finance Committee of the Board of Supervisors, as well as by representatives from the different departments and my staff.

During the process of this meeting and our previous town hall meetings in the Richmond, several budget priorities have emerged. There is widespread support for funding health care, particularly for health coverage for children and youth and for full funding at San Francisco General Hospital. There is support for increased funding of childcare and after school programs in the Richmond, particularly for staffing of playgrounds after school.

Also, Richmond residents remain very concerned about pedestrian safety and support funding initiatives to increase safety, as well as those which would improve public transit. There also is support for items like continued funding for arts programs in the schools, repair of the Anza Branch library, and emergency rental assistance for tenants.

On the revenue side, several speakers mentioned that corporations were getting too much in San Francisco, both because of their lawsuit and their receipt of tax credits and subsidies from City government. Other speakers were concerned about fiscal controls to ensure that City departments remain accountable and efficient in delivering services to residents.

All of these issues and priorities will inform my decisions as we approach review of the City budget.

Jake McGoldrick is a member of the SF Board of Supervisors representing District 1.