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Proposition A Budget Process City of San Francisco Charter Amendment - Majority Approval Required
See Also:
Index of all Propositions |
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Results as of Nov 10 4:00pm, 100.0% of Precincts Reporting (428/428) 22.0% Voter Turnout (99,649/451,988) |
Information shown below: Summary | Fiscal Impact | Official Information | Arguments | | ||||||
Should the City Charter be amended to require the City to develop binding long-range financial policies, to adopt a two-year budget cycle, and to create a five-year financial plan to forecast expenditures and revenues?
1. Specifies a two-year (biennial) budget, replacing the current annual budget; 2. Requires a five-year financial plan which forecasts revenues and expenses and summarizes expected public service levels and funding requirements for that period; 3. Charges the Controller's Office with proposing to the Mayor and Board of Supervisors financial policies addressing reserves, use of volatile revenues, debt, and financial measures in the case of disaster recovery. The City would be required to adopt budgets consistent with these policies once approved; 4. Standardizes the processes and deadlines for the City to submit labor agreements for all public employee unions at May 15. Overall, the proposed changes would cause the City to budget less in some years, and to fund the budget with reserved funds or new revenues in other years, but the total amount of City revenue or expenditure would not be directly affected.
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Arguments For Proposition A | Arguments Against Proposition A |
1. Proposition A would improve the City's financial
planning and budgeting by requiring the City to
look ahead to future revenues and expenditures
when adopting budgets. 2. This measure would improve the stability of social services and public health and safety by encouraging the City to plan for anticipated revenue declines so that abrupt cuts are not required to maintain a balanced budget. 3. Proposition A would bring the City in line with standard financial planning practices. 4. Having all labor contracts finalized at least 45 days before the fiscal year begins would allow for a more transparent and efficient budget process
| 1 Proposition A is not needed because the law already
requires certain agencies, including the Controller,
to issue a three-year budget report every
year.
2 Budget projections on which multi-year budgets
are based often turn out to be incorrect. 3. Proposition A reduces accountability because it gives the Controller, an appointed official, power over the budget at the expense of elected officials; it also reduces public hearings regarding agency budgets on fixed two-year budget cycles from every year to every two years. 4 Failure to finalize labor contract negotiations before May 15 means that these employees would be without a new contract for over a year
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