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San Francisco city departments are leaving tens of millions of dollars in unspent — and, oftentimes, unaccountable — funds every year after billing one another for services, according to a new city report published Monday.
The report suggests that, at a time when San Francisco is facing an $818 million deficit, basic fiscal transparency measures are still not the norm across a city with a $16 billion budget.
“At a time when the Mayor is proposing drastic cuts to our most critical social services, and trust in government is fragile, the City must hold itself to the highest standards of accountability,” wrote Supervisor Jackie Fielder, who is pressing for a hearing on the report from the San Francisco Budget and Legislative Analyst.
The report revealed that since 2018 city departments have left between $53 million to $80 million in unspent “work orders.” Certain departments routinely bill others for their services: The Public Utilities Commission, for instance, might pay the Department of Public Works for installing new sewer lines, and the City Attorney’s Office might bill departments for legal services…
The Budget and Legislative Analyst looked into three departments: the Controller’s Office, which greenlights any such billings, the City Attorney’s Office and the Department of Public Works — two departments that offer services to other arms of the city.
It also looked into the Mayor’s Budget Office, which holds conversations with all city departments regarding their budget proposals.
Some other key findings from the report are:
- Departments, such as the City Attorney’s Office, routinely bill for services months after the work is done.
- Public Works frequently fails to provide detailed breakdowns of how much it will cost departments to maintain their facilities, making it hard to track funds.
- There is no documented and standardized process to review interdepartmental expenditures, causing inconsistency and inefficiency across all departments.
- City departments are skirting Board of Supervisors’ oversight by funneling funds for their positions through other departments.
The report is now heading to the Government Audit and Oversight Committee. Supervisor Fielder, who chairs the committee, is hoping for a hearing, which is a common next step for any audit released by the Budget and Legislative Analyst. Fielder’s legislative aide Preston Kilgore, for his part, underscored the report’s timeliness: Mayor Daniel Lurie is required to present his initial budget on June 1…(more)
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