San Francisco Mayor To Spare Police And Fire Departments From 15% Budget Cuts

CBS Bay Area

May 28, 2025

San Francisco is bracing for deep budget cuts, with city departments facing 15 percent reductions to their operating budgets. But Mayor Daniel Lurie confirmed Tuesday that sworn officers — including police and fire — will be spared to maintain public safety.

Bianca Polovina, president of IFPTE Local 21, a union representing 6,500 city workers, highlighted the critical nature of the services at risk. "I get up in the morning, I turn on my tap water — that's Hetch Hetchy water from the PUC. When I commute here to City Hall, I get on the 5R," Polovina said.

Polovina expressed grave concerns over the potential impact on essential services that, though often unseen, form the backbone of the city. "We don't even know yet how severe it could be," they said. "We do that hidden work — the infrastructure work, you don't see it — engineering work, architecture, planning and public health and budget wonks, analysts," they added. Our public health system will be severely compromised if we're looking at that level of cuts."

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