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by Aaron Salter
The battle for a piece of San Francisco's budget began Saturday when
members of various social organizations met in the Mission as the People's
Budget Collaborative. The main concern the group discussed was the amount
of support they could expect from the new Board of Supervisorís, who help
determine how the cityís funds are distributed.
"We are identifying the needs," Riva Enteent, a member of the National
Lawyers Guild, said.
The Peopleís Budget Collaborative, in its fourth year, is an umbrella group
of over 40 community based organizations who are fighting for an acceptable
share of the cityís tax revenue and the elimination of waste from the
budget. Since the Collaborative has no actual money, their power comes from
their ability to convince politicians that certain issues should be funded.
Seniors, immigrants, homeless, and disabled are an example of the many
sectors of the population the Collaborative represents. Housing, health,
economic justice, and civil rights are the areaís the group highlighted for
this fiscal year.
The budget is important because a resolution can be passed, but if it does
not receive funding from the city the integrity of the bill is lost.
Rebecca Vikomerson explained that a few years ago the Homeless Family
Resolution was passed; the intention was to provide shelter to homeless
families. Since the passing of the resolution, a minimal amount of action
has taken place due to a lack of funding.
The San Francisco budget, $4.2 billion for the past fiscal year, is divided
into two categories; money that is received from taxes and funds that are
received from the state and federal government. The government payments
make up 70% of the budget and is dedicated for specific programs. This is
unwavering. The other 30% comes from taxes paid by individuals and
companies. This is what the cityís departments and programs are fighting
for. This year the money raised from taxes in the city is approximately
$1.2 billion. Public health programs receive about 20% of these funds. In
comparison, social services receive about 10%; yet approximately 40% is put
towards public protection such as the police and fire department.
The Collaborative feels that areaís such as public protection are
necessary, but are receiving to a double helping of the pie. The group used
the issue of police overtime as an example. They stated that a great
amount of money is being taken away from social programs to make unnecessary
payments to other departments. In addition they would also like to see
greater accountability as to how each city department manages their budget.
The corporate community is another target of the collaboration. Robert
Lehman, a member of San Franciscans for Tax Justice, explained that the city
is currently involved in a lawsuit with the Committee on Jobs; a group
representing the rights of corporations. If the city loses the lawsuit it
will be forced to pay approximately $100 million dollars to the
corporations. A move which could strip the city of its economic reserves.
The Collaborative is encouraging to city to expand its thinking to a future
that reaches beyond a single year. Their position is that money spent now
to help individuals will save the city money in the future.
"Our proposal is just the tip of the iceberg," Enteent said.
If you would like additional information about the Peopleís Budget
Collaborative contact Riva at (415)285-1055.
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