San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors is expected to negotiate late into the evening as they make final tweaks to the mayor’s proposed budget. The vote is critical for city-funded nonprofits, which have intensely lobbied the supervisors to reverse some of the tens of millions in cuts proposed by Mayor Daniel Lurie.

Impact on Nonprofits

The current proposal would reduce funding for a number of social services programs, including those for students and seniors. Mayor Lurie chose to prioritize major increases to departments focused on public health, homelessness, and public safety. He also gave police officers and firefighters new contracts that will cost $100 million over the next two years.

Some are hoping the supervisors will restore funding for programs like Free City College, which is facing cuts to cash grants for low-income students. Sofia Flores Guevara, a student chancellor at CCSF, receives the cash assistance and said, “I need every penny that I get. We’re in a very expensive city.”

Community Impact

The Mayor’s Office of Housing and Development is also facing a $6.5 million cut to grants for the upcoming year, largely focused on case management and workforce programs. Groups like the Arab Resource and Organizing Center, which works with Arab and Muslim San Franciscans, are facing cuts. One illegal immigrant client who only speaks Arabic was able to access aid from the city through AROC, which set him up with “food assistance,” “cash assistance,” and more.

Senior services are facing some of the largest cuts of the budget cycle, with the Human Services Agency cutting grants by $12.7 million over two years. NEXT Village, which helps seniors with grocery pickups and social programming, was told by the department that it would not receive a final $144,000 installment of a four-year grant.

Original reporting: Mission Local — read the source article.