Skip to main content

SFMTA Budget Priorities for FY 2023 to FY 2024

SFMTA Budget Priorities for FY 2023 to FY 2024
By Andrea Buffa

T Line LRV at the Oakdale boarding island in the Bayview District

It’s budget season! 

Every two years, the SFMTA develops a consolidated budget to guide the agency’s decisions about where to focus our funding to best meet the transportation needs of all San Franciscans. We’re developing a budget that’s designed to support San Francisco’s economic recovery, increase transportation equity, protect the environment and keep the agency on sound financial footing.  

We presented the base budget (projected revenues and expenditures for the next two years if we made no changes and continued our current policies) to our Board of Directors in early February to get their feedback and are now seeking input from the public. Your feedback will help us understand what to change in our base budget: which investments are most important to San Franciscans and which new revenue sources you think we should pursue. We’re considering both fare increases and decreases as well as changes to parking fees. 

The City Charter requires us to submit the final budget to the Mayor’s Office by May 1. The Mayor then sends it to the Board of Supervisors on June 1 for a final vote. 

How to provide your input on the SFMTA FY 2023 to FY 2024 budget 

Online Survey: We invite you to give us feedback about your transportation priorities by filling out this short survey. It’s available in English, Spanish, Chinese and Filipino. We’ve included an open-ended question so you can let us know if there’s a specific transportation priority you want to let us know about. 

Community Transportation Priorities Survey image

Online Listening Sessions: We’re hosting two listening sessions that will include a short budget presentation and time to hear your questions and suggestions. You can request simultaneous interpretation in any language for our budget listening sessions by calling 415.646.2109 at least 48 hours prior.  

Online Town Hall: At our online Town Hall meeting, we’ll share the feedback we heard from the survey and online listening sessions. 

March 10, 2022, 6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.  
Get login information at SFMTA Budget Planning - Fiscal Years 2023 & 2024 

After gathering feedback from the public, our directors and our staff, we’ll revise the budget and present it for additional review at two SFMTA Board of Directors meetings: 

SFMTA Board of Directors Budget Meetings:  

  • March 15, 2022, 1:00 p.m. 

  • April 5, 2022, 1:00 p.m. 

Budget Background 

If you’ve been tuning in to our Board of Directors meetings during the two years, you’ll know that the SFMTA’s revenue was severely reduced by the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID devastated our transit fare and parking revenues, which are two of our three biggest revenue sources. Even now, our transit revenues are about 75% lower than pre-pandemic levels and parking revenues are 20% lower.  

The recovery of our transit fare and parking revenue depends on the pace of San Francisco’s economic recovery, which is still uncertain. Data from the Controller’s Office shows that the city’s economy and downtown are recovering more slowly than comparable metropolitan areas. 

This compounded the financial problems our agency already had. Over the last 20 years, the demands on San Francisco’s transportation system have grown and revenues haven’t kept up. Our agency has what’s called a “structural deficit” -- the amount of money it takes to operate our system costs more than the revenues we take in. 

We got through the last two years because we fought for and won San Francisco’s fair share of federal pandemic relief funding and then we were prudent about using that funding to restore service.  

Recently, our short-term budget outlook has somewhat improved because some of the external revenue sources we rely on did better than expected. We’re receiving more money than we thought we would from the San Francisco General Fund and need to spend less on our pension costs. Still, according to the Controller’s Office, the SFMTA will face a structural deficit of approximately $20 - $50 million every year beginning in FY 2024-25.  

This background informs the FY 2023 to FY 2024 base budget that we’re asking for feedback on. It tries to balance the need for us to restore and expand services with the need to maintain the agency’s long-term economic stability. 

Click below to view the budget website in:  

Español - 繁體中文Filipino    



Published March 02, 2022 at 12:33AM
https://ift.tt/BameGSR

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

FOX NEWS: Memorial Day sales to shop ahead of the holiday weekend Memorial Day weekend is upon us, and while the unofficial kickoff of summer may be a gift in itself, there’s plenty of deals to be had.

Memorial Day sales to shop ahead of the holiday weekend Memorial Day weekend is upon us, and while the unofficial kickoff of summer may be a gift in itself, there’s plenty of deals to be had. via FOX NEWS https://ift.tt/3wqnodA

FOX NEWS: Bride's father asks stepdad to help walk her down the aisle in sweet viral moment A selfless gesture by the father of a bride was shared on social media in a viral moment of him surprising the girl’s stepfather by asking him to help walk her to the altar.

Bride's father asks stepdad to help walk her down the aisle in sweet viral moment A selfless gesture by the father of a bride was shared on social media in a viral moment of him surprising the girl’s stepfather by asking him to help walk her to the altar. via FOX NEWS https://ift.tt/1Igpvb2

FOX NEWS: Students sing to teacher with stage 4 cancer outside hospital: 'It was overwhelming' In an emotional goodbye visit, 26 children sang worship songs prior to Carol Mack's move to hospice care

Students sing to teacher with stage 4 cancer outside hospital: 'It was overwhelming' In an emotional goodbye visit, 26 children sang worship songs prior to Carol Mack's move to hospice care via FOX NEWS https://ift.tt/YVZPIdc

FOX NEWS: Bride's father asks stepdad to help walk her down the aisle in sweet viral moment A selfless gesture by the father of a bride was shared on social media in a viral moment of him surprising the girl’s stepfather by asking him to help walk her to the altar.

Bride's father asks stepdad to help walk her down the aisle in sweet viral moment A selfless gesture by the father of a bride was shared on social media in a viral moment of him surprising the girl’s stepfather by asking him to help walk her to the altar. via FOX NEWS https://ift.tt/01DarjY

FOX NEWS: Canine influenza outbreak: What dog owners need to know A canine influenza outbreak in Los Angeles is drawing up concern among pet owners on the West Coast.

Canine influenza outbreak: What dog owners need to know A canine influenza outbreak in Los Angeles is drawing up concern among pet owners on the West Coast. via FOX NEWS https://ift.tt/lTOH3qM

FOX NEWS: College student sheds 100 pounds after years of dedication: 'The greatest accomplishment' Lori Odegaard, 24, from Fargo, North Dakota, tells Fox News about her incredible weight loss journey.

College student sheds 100 pounds after years of dedication: 'The greatest accomplishment' Lori Odegaard, 24, from Fargo, North Dakota, tells Fox News about her incredible weight loss journey. via FOX NEWS https://ift.tt/hRToMeG

New top story from Time: Antivirus Tycoon John McAfee Found Dead in Spanish Prison After Extradition Ruling

https://ift.tt/3xN5VNb MADRID—John McAfee, the creator of the McAfee antivirus software, has been found dead in his cell in a jail near Barcelona, a government official told The Associated Press on Wednesday. Authorities did not disclose the cause of death. Hours earlier, a Spanish court issued a preliminary ruling in favor of the 75-year-old tycoon’s extradition to the United States to face tax-related criminal charges that could carry decades in prison. Security personnel at the Brians 2 penitentiary near the northeastern Spanish city tried to revive him, but the jail’s medical team finally certified his death, a statement from the regional Catalan government said. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] The statement didn’t identify McAfee by name, but said he was a 75-year-old U.S. citizen awaiting extradition to his country. A Catalan government source familiar with the event who was not authorized to be named in media reports confirmed to the AP that the dead man was McAfe...

New top story from Time: Actor Farhan Akhtar Pays Tribute to Legendary Sprinter Milkha Singh, India’s ‘Flying Sikh’

https://ift.tt/3gTcTuw I played Milkha Singh—the Indian sporting legend who died on June 18 of COVID-19 complications at age 91—in the 2013 biopic Bhaag Milkha Bhaag. ( The title translates to Run Milkha Run. ) Singh was a child of partition, and who came from poverty, but he had a lot of faith in himself and the belief that if you work hard, you will be remembered. That, to me, is his legacy. Back in my school days, I remember how my physical education teacher would often point to Singh as an example when we would slack off on our training. Many of us were told that growing up: if you want to be successful in sports, you have to train like this guy. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] And the first time we met was at a running track in Mumbai where I was training for the film. Singh had spent time serving in the army before his athletic career; I expected him to be concise and terse in his demeanor. But he quickly put me at ease. He arrived dressed in a tracksuit, and tol...

New top story from Time: The City That Endures

https://ift.tt/2Vpskmg If New York is a city of reinvention, it’s also a place of perpetual wistfulness, of missing people and things that are gone. Every day, even in the best of times, something you love about New York disappears: Your favorite restaurant can’t hack it; the awesome little card store had to close because people stopped sending cards. Daniel Arnold for TIME Pedestrians lean on each other in Chinatown, Aug. 27, 2021. Daniel Arnold for TIME A thrill-seeking content creator balances on a narrow rail over the East River for a photo, Aug. 23, 2021. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] With life comes attrition. The guy who used to fix your shoes just got old and, one day, he died—there was no one to take over his business. Those of us who live here now, as the city tries to shimmer back to life amid the seemingly endless COVID crisis, feel that toothache of the heart every time we pass one of our many shuttered storefronts. Yet those of us who lived here on 9/1...

Geary Boulevard Improvement Project Update

Geary Boulevard Improvement Project Update By Amy Fowler Geary Boulevard is a critical east-west arterial and one of the busiest bus corridors in North America, connecting downtown San Francisco to the Richmond District. The SFMTA has been busy working on the second phase of planned improvements on Geary, called the Geary Boulevard Improvement Project , to improve Muni’s 38 Geary bus service and address traffic safety between 34th Avenue and Stanyan Street.  The project is building on the success of the Geary Rapid Project , which was recently completed on time and on budget and has already shown promising travel time savings on the eastern half of the Geary corridor.    Last fall, we asked neighbors in the Richmond about their priorities for transit, safety and driving issues on Geary via pop-up events on the corridor and a Virtual Open House. Thanks to input from over 600 community members , the SFMTA has used this feedback to draft the detailed, block-by-bloc...