The City and County of San Francisco is a consolidated city-county, a status it has had since 1856. It is the only such consolidation in California. The mayor is also the county executive and the county board of supervisors acts as the city council. San Francisco International Airport, though located in San Mateo County, is owned and operated by the City and County of San Francisco. San Francisco was also granted a perpetual leasehold over the Hetch Hetchy Valley and watershed in Yosemite National Park by the Raker Act in 1913.
Under the city charter, the government of San Francisco is constituted of two co-equal branches. The executive branch is headed by the mayor and includes other city-wide elected and appointed officials, and the civil service. The 11-member Board of Supervisors, the legislative branch, is headed by a President and is responsible for passing laws and budgets, though San Franciscans also make use of direct ballot initiatives to pass legislation. The members of the Board of Supervisors are elected as representatives of specific districts within the city.[1] If the mayor dies or resigns, the President of the Board of Supervisors assumes the office, as Dianne Feinstein did after the assassination of George Moscone in 1978.
San Francisco voters use ranked-choice voting to elect the Mayor, Sheriff, District Attorney, City Attorney, Treasurer, Assessor-Recorder, Public Defender, and Members of the Board of Supervisors.[2]
The federal government utilizes San Francisco as the regional hub for many arms of the federal bureaucracy, including the U.S. Court of Appeals, the Federal Reserve Bank, and the United States Mint. Until decommissioning in the early 1990s, the city had three major military installations - the Presidio, Treasure Island, and Hunters Point - a legacy still reflected in the annual celebration of Fleet Week. The State of California uses San Francisco as the home of the state Supreme Court and other state agencies. Foreign governments have located in excess of thirty foreign consulates in San Francisco.[3]
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Taxes
As of December 2008, San Francisco's sales tax rate is 8.5%.[4] It is distributed as follows:
- 7.25% - State[5]
- 5.00% - State - General Fund
- 0.25% - State - Fiscal Recovery Fund
- 0.50% - State - Local Revenue Fund
- 0.50% - State - Local Public Safety Fund
- 1.00% - Bradley-Burns Uniform Local Tax Law
- 0.25% - Local County - Transportation funds
- 0.75% - Local City/County - Operational funds
- 0.50% - AB 1077 (1977) Transportation formula - Bay Area Rapid Transit, San Francisco Municipal Railway, AC Transit[6]
- 0.50% - Local/regional transportation
- Proposition B (1989) - 1989-2009: SF County Transportation Authority (60% transit including San Francisco Municipal Railway, 30% street and traffic safety, 8% paratransit, 2% transportation system management.[7]
- Proposition K (2003) - 2009-2034 - Different formula for local streets and local and regional public transit[6]
Budget
The fiscal year 2007-08 city and county budget is as follows:[9]
| Category | Revenue | Ratio |
|---|---|---|
| Charges for services | $1,808 M | 29.7% |
| Property taxes | $1,186 M | 19.5% |
| State | $707 M | 11.6% |
| Other local taxes | $588 M | 9.7% |
| Federal | $360 M | 5.9% |
| Business taxes | $350 M | 5.8% |
| Rents and concessions | $349 M | 5.7% |
| Fund balance from 2006-07 | $239 M | 3.9% |
| Fines and forfeitures | $105 M | 1.7% |
| Interest and investment income | $84 M | 1.4% |
| Licenses, permits, and franchises | $36 M | 0.6% |
| Reserves drawdown | $23 M | 0.4% |
| Other | $244 M | 4.0% |
| Total | $6,079 M | 100% |
| Category | Expenditures | Ratio |
|---|---|---|
| Personnel | $3.083 B | 50.4% |
| Non-personnel operating costs | $1.438 B | 23.7% |
| Debt service | $576 M | 9.5% |
| Capital and equipment | $335 M | 5.5% |
| Grants | $272 M | 4.5% |
| Aid assistance | $271 M | 4.5% |
| Reserves and fund balance | $69 M | 1.1% |
| Facility maintenance | $35 M | 0.6% |
| Total | $6,079 M | 100% |
| Category | Personnel | Ratio |
|---|---|---|
| Public Works, Transportation, and Commerce | 8,798 | 31.5% |
| Public Protection | 6,566 | 23.5% |
| Public Health | 6,196 | 22.2% |
| General Administration and Finance | 2,317 | 8.3% |
| Human Welfare and Neighborhood Development | 2,125 | 7.6% |
| Culture and Recreation | 1,883 | 6.8% |
| Total | 27,885 | 100% |
Current government
Executive
- Mayor:
Offices under the Mayor
- Mayor's Office of Economic & Workforce Development
- Mayor's Office of Commerce and Trade
- Mayor's Office of Community Development (MOCD)
- Mayor's Office of Criminal Justice (MOCJ)
- Mayor’s Office on Disability
- Mayor's Office of Education
- Entertainment Commission
- Film Commission
- Mayor's Office of Housing (MOH)
- Mayor's Office of Neighborhood Services (MONS)
- Mayor's Office of Public Finance
- Small Business Commission
Other city agencies
- Department of Building Inspection
- Department of Election
- Department of Human Resources
- Department of Public Health
- San Francisco Department of Public Works
- Department of Recreation and Park
- Municipal Transportation Agency
- Department of Parking and Traffic
- San Francisco Municipal Railway
- Office of Assessor-Recorder
- Office of City Attorney
- Office of the Controller
- Office of the County Clerk
- Office of the Treasurer and Tax Collector
- Rent Board
- San Francisco Arts Commission
- San Francisco Fire Department
- San Francisco Police Department
- San Francisco Public Utilities Commission
- San Francisco Sheriff's Department
- San Francisco Unified School District
Board of Supervisors
- Eric Mar, District 1 (Richmond)
- Michela Alioto-Pier, District 2 (Marina/Pacific Heights/Presidio)
- David Chiu, District 3 (Chinatown/North Beach/Nob Hill) (current president)
- Carmen Chu, District 4 (Sunset)
- Ross Mirkarimi, District 5 (Haight/Western Addition/Inner Sunset)
- Chris Daly, District 6 (Tenderloin/South of Market)
- Sean Elsbernd, District 7 (Twin Peaks/Forest Hill/West Portal)
- Bevan Dufty, District 8 (Castro/Noe Valley)
- David Campos, District 9 (Mission/Bernal Heights)
- Sophie Maxwell, District 10 (Portrero Hill/Hunter's Point/Visitacion Valley)
- John Avalos, District 11 (Excelsior/Ingleside)
References
- ^ "Board of Supervisors District Information". City and County of San Francisco, Board of Supervisors. http://www.sfgov.org/site/bdsupvrs_index.asp?id=4385. Retrieved January 29 2006.
- ^ "Ranked-Choice Voting". City and County of San Francisco, Department of Elections. http://www.sfgov.org/site/elections_index.asp?id=60440. Retrieved August 8, 2009.
- ^ Search for consulates in San Francisco, CA Yellowpages.com, Accessed August 27, 2006.
- ^ http://www.boe.ca.gov/cgi-bin/rates.cgi?LETTER=S&LIST=COUNTY
- ^ Detailed Description of the Sales and Use Tax Rate - Board of Equalization
- ^ a b http://www.bayrailalliance.org/local_transportation_funding_sources
- ^ http://www.sfgov.org/site/courts_page.asp?id=3970
- ^ http://www.sfgov.org/site/bdsupvrs_page.asp?id=25985#P265_9769
- ^ http://www.sfgov.org/site/uploadedfiles/controller/budget_information/Citizen_Guide_Budget_April_2008.pdf
External links
- SFGov.org, official site of City and County of San Francisco
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