State of San Francisco: July 2026

July was budget month at City Hall, and the Board of Supervisors used it to close out a two-year spending plan while also loading the November 3, 2026 ballot with tax and housing measures. Alongside the fiscal work, supervisors advanced a contested housing-policy package — reducing inclusionary requirements, expanding drug-free permanent supportive housing, and tightening penalties on illegal fireworks — with a recurring 7–4 or 9–2 split forming around Supervisors Chen, Chan, Fielder, Melgar, and Walton on various items. Four Board meetings were briefed this month; no committee-level saga data was supplied, so this edition focuses on the roll-call record.

The two-year budget lands unanimously

The FY 2026-2027 / 2027-2028 Budget Package — a full two-year appropriation, an annual salary ordinance, and roughly a dozen companion items — passed on first reading 11–0 (Board of Supervisors, Jul 21) and received final passage the following week as eight bundled ordinances, again 11–0 (Board of Supervisors, Jul 28). The unanimous votes at both readings indicate the package cleared without recorded dissent. A separate fiscal item, the Homelessness Gross Receipts Tax Reallocation, was continued on first reading from Jul 14 to Jul 21 (Board of Supervisors, Jul 14); the supplied record does not indicate how it was resolved on the later date.

A November ballot takes shape

Supervisors moved several measures onto the November 3, 2026 ballot. On Jul 14, the Board ordered a Housing Trust Fund measure submitted to voters (Board of Supervisors, Jul 14). On Jul 28, the Board approved a Real Property Transfer Tax Foreclosure Exemption for the November ballot, 10–0 (Motion No. M26-070), and separately approved the November 3, 2026 Election item as amended, 10–0 (Motion No. M26-082) (Board of Supervisors, Jul 28). The record does not describe the substantive scope of the amendments to M26-082.

Housing policy: incentives, restrictions, and a downtown assessment

The month's sharpest housing debate came on Jul 21, when the Board finally passed Inclusionary Housing Program Updates and Development Impact Fee Reductions on a 9–2 vote, with Supervisors Chen and Walton dissenting. The ordinance reduces inclusionary requirements for projects of 25 or more units and eliminates them for smaller projects (Board of Supervisors, Jul 21). The same day, the Board finally passed a policy expanding Drug-Free Permanent Supportive Housing, 7–4, with Chan, Chen, Fielder, and Walton opposed; new City funding for site-based PSH must default to the drug-free model under the new policy (Board of Supervisors, Jul 21). Also on Jul 21, the Downtown Community Benefit District was adopted 10–0 (Chan excused), levying assessments for a 10-year term (Board of Supervisors, Jul 21). A week later, the Board unanimously adopted paired resolutions on a 100% Affordable Housing Deal and rent forgiveness for New Asia Restaurant, and finally passed an ordinance on Hotel Uses in Residential Districts via the consent agenda (Board of Supervisors, Jul 28).

Fireworks, reporting requirements, and workforce items

An ordinance creating infraction and misdemeanor penalties for prohibited fireworks — a first-offense fine of $125–$250, with escalating penalties for repeat offenses within five years — passed first reading 9–2 on Jul 21 and received final passage 9–2 on Jul 28, with Supervisors Fielder and Walton dissenting at both readings (Board of Supervisors, Jul 21; Jul 28). A separate ordinance amending roughly a dozen codes to modify or eliminate more than 111 reporting requirements finally passed 7–4 on Jul 21, opposed by Chan, Fielder, Melgar, and Walton (Board of Supervisors, Jul 21). On workforce policy, an expansion of Paid Parental Leave Eligibility — reducing the minimum-days-worked threshold from 180 to 90 — passed first reading 11–0 on Jul 21 and received final passage on the Jul 28 consent agenda, 11–0 (Board of Supervisors, Jul 21; Jul 28).

Spending outside the budget bill

On Jul 14, supervisors unanimously adopted $8.5 million in grants together with an engineering contract, and separately adopted a $20,000,000 item tied to Embarcadero Plaza / Sue Bierman Park (Board of Supervisors, Jul 14). The record does not detail the scope of the engineering contract or the specific use of the Embarcadero Plaza funds. On Jul 28, the Board also adopted a Marina Yacht Harbor Dredging item, 11–0 (Board of Supervisors, Jul 28).

What to watch

• November 3, 2026 ballot: The Housing Trust Fund measure (ordered submitted Jul 14), the Real Property Transfer Tax Foreclosure Exemption (Motion M26-070), and the election item approved as amended (Motion M26-082) are all before voters.
• Homelessness Gross Receipts Tax Reallocation: Continued on first reading from Jul 14 to Jul 21; the supplied record does not show its disposition.
• Not-heard items from Jul 21: Motion 260823 was not referred to the Board, and items 260824 and a related Committee of the Whole hearing remain unresolved in the record.
• Implementation: The inclusionary housing changes, the Drug-Free PSH funding default, and the Downtown Community Benefit District's 10-year assessment schedule will begin to shape subsequent Board agendas.