S.F. spends twice as much per person on street cleaning as LA, audit finds

S.F. spends twice as much per person on street cleaning as LA, audit finds

Briefly

"San Francisco spent nearly $60 per person, or $1 million per square mile, on its street cleaning efforts in the past year, not including overhead costs. That's significantly more than its peer cities, such as Los Angeles and San Jose, a city audit released Wednesday found. In fiscal year 2024-25, the city budgeted nearly $47.8 million for street cleaning, or $1 million per square mile. By comparison, Los Angeles budgeted $74.7 million. That's $19.54 per capita, or $159,205 per square mile."

"For the money Public Works does spend, the department fails to track or report spending "in a meaningful way," states the report, prepared by the Budget and Legislative Analyst. "The Department's current budgeting practices do not allow for nimble responses to common and reasonable requests for information related to street-cleaning services, which is essential to ensuring transparency and accountability," the report continues."

"In fiscal year 2023-2024, $15.2 million was left unspent. More than $11 million was used for purposes other than street cleaning, the report says. Those include funds earmarked for enforcement against illegal street vending (nearly $4 million), support for the Asia Pacific Economic Conference in 2024 (a little under $1 million), and emergency winter storm response ($1.6 million)."