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Smart Voter
San Francisco County, CA November 4, 2008 Election
Proposition S
Policy Regarding Budget Set-Asides and Identification of Replacement Funds
City of San Francisco
Ordinance - Majority Approval Required

Pass: 167,974 / 55.66% Yes votes ...... 133,817 / 44.34% No votes

See Also: Index of all Propositions
Results as of Jan 24 10:41am, 100.0% of Precincts Reporting (580/580)
Information shown below: Fiscal Impact | Yes/No Meaning | Arguments |

Shall it be City policy that the voters will not approve any new set-aside of City revenue unless the set-aside identifies a new funding source, includes limits on annual increases, and automatically expires after 10 years?

Fiscal Impact from City Controller:
Should the proposed ordinance be approved by the voters, in my opinion, it would in and of itself have a minimal impact on the cost of government.

The proposed ordinance would establish a new City policy requiring new or expanded set-asides to identify specific and adequate new sources of funds prior to voter approval. Additionally, the policy would limit the annual growth of new set-asides to no more than 2% of the prior year's amount, and the duration of the approved set-asides to ten years after the effective date of their adoption.

The proposed ordinance would require the Controller to prepare a statement informing voters of the new policy, funding sources identified for the new or expanded set-asides, and the impact of the set-asides on the City's budget and finances during its term.

The Controller already prepares a financial analysis of each measure submitted to the voters, including the amount of any increase or decrease in the cost of City and County government and the effect of the measure on the tax rate. The proposed ordinance specifies additional detail that the Controller would provide for setasides in these analyses.

Note that the ordinance would only establish a City policy on set-asides. The ordinance would not prevent members of the Board of Supervisors or the Mayor from submitting measures that did not conform to this policy. Nor would the ordinance prevent the voters from approving any such measure on the ballot.

Meaning of Voting Yes/No
A YES vote on this measure means:
If you vote "yes," you want to adopt an ordinance to make it City policy that the voters will not approve new set-asides without identifying replacement funds.

A NO vote on this measure means:
If you vote "no," you do not want to adopt this ordinance.

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Arguments For Proposition S
YES ON PROPOSITION S

As Mayor, I am working to make sure your hard-earned tax dollars are spent on your priorities.

That's why I have focused on the basics + public safety, better health care, more reliable public transportation, effective services to help the homeless, a partnership with our public schools, improving the conditions of our streets, parks, public spaces and other essential services. The numbers show we are making steady progress on all of these important priorities.

But finding the funds to support these essentials is an increasing challenge because so much of our budget is already earmarked for specific uses, many times through voter-approved set-asides on the ballot.

San Francisco is in a better financial situation than most cities because we have put money aside in our rainy day fund and attempted to "pay as we go" to the greatest extent possible. But we need continued fiscal restraint and reform to maintain financial stability.

Proposition S is a common-sense reform that will require that future set asides identify a funding source. It is a simple idea + make sure we have the money in hand before we commit to spending it.

I strongly support the right of voters to express their priorities on the ballot. This is an important power we must preserve to keep City Hall responsive.

With Proposition S voters will be provided all the information they need to make an informed choice. With this new reform, voters can express their budget priorities with full knowledge of how those decisions will affect other programs or increase their tax burden.

The best way to make sure we are making the right choices is to make sure voters have the best information.

That's why I ask you to join me in voting YES on S.

Gavin Newsom, Mayor

(No arguments against Proposition S were submitted)

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Created: January 24, 2009 10:41 PST
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