{"id":466231,"date":"2026-09-17T01:47:34","date_gmt":"2026-09-17T01:47:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/466231\/"},"modified":"2026-09-17T01:47:34","modified_gmt":"2026-09-17T01:47:34","slug":"muni-cuts-to-cost-san-francisco-labor-market-up-to-48-million-annually-report-shows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/466231\/","title":{"rendered":"Muni Cuts to Cost San Francisco Labor Market Up to $48 Million Annually, Report Shows"},"content":{"rendered":"

The findings project fallout related to Proposition H, a proposed parcel tax meant to fund the transit agency.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Passengers board the 14R-Mission on 4th and Mission streets in San Francisco on April 6, 2020.\u00a0(Beth LaBerge\/KQED)<\/p>\n

As San Francisco voters weigh in on a parcel tax<\/a> measure to fund Muni this November, a new economic impact report released Wednesday by San Francisco\u2019s Office of the Controller projects the sweeping toll that massive service cuts to the city\u2019s public transit agency will have.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis analysis suggests that the potential service cuts would be far worse for the local economy than the parcel tax,\u201d the report states. \u201cThey would make it more expensive for employers to create jobs in the city, make workers less productive, and consume residents\u2019 leisure time, hurting their quality of life.\u201d<\/p>\n

If passed, Proposition H would generate an estimated $184 million annually for Muni \u2014 which faces the largest budget deficit in its history \u2014 through an annual tax on residential, nonresidential and mixed-use property owners based on the square footage of their property over the next 15 years.<\/p>\n

If voters reject Proposition H, the agency warns it will be forced to reduce service frequencies by up to 50% while suspending less popular routes and its historic trains and cable cars.<\/p>\n

Given the dire financial outlook, the city\u2019s analysis treated reduced Muni service as a baseline scenario, and Proposition H\u2019s passage as an alternative scenario. Both the proposed tax and the service cuts that would occur if voters do not approve the tax would affect the city\u2019s economy in a number of ways, according to the report.<\/p>\n

\"\"Passengers exit a Muni train at West Portal Station in San Francisco on March 3, 2026.\u00a0(T\u00e2m V\u0169\/KQED)<\/p>\n

The findings state that reduced Muni service would result in a \u201cpoorer-performing\u201d transportation system. The Office of the Controller estimated a labor market impact between $30 million and $48 million annually, due to workers dealing with delayed commutes.<\/p>\n

\u201cSan Francisco\u2019s extremely high labor productivity is partly a function of the number of people who can access jobs here,\u201d the report states. \u201cWhen slower commuting reduces that number, overall productivity is affected.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nonwork trip delays would result in a decline in the amenity value \u2014 a measure of the quality-of-life benefits a resource provides to those living in San Francisco \u2014 by $118 million to $197 million per year, according to the report.<\/p>\n

Property values will take a hit in either scenario: The report estimates that Muni service cuts would reduce residential property values by as much as 0.9%, or around $14,100 on average, given current housing prices, as a reduction in transportation accessibility can reduce property values.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Taking into account all the variables \u2014 including the cost of the tax to property owners, preventing travel-time delays for businesses and residents, and impacts to the local economy and labor market \u2014 the net economic impact from the passage of the parcel tax is positive, according to the report. In a high-end economic impact scenario, the tax would create over 1,400 jobs and grow the city\u2019s gross domestic product by about $400 million on average over the next 15 years.<\/p>\n

Proposition H is supported by San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie, Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, as well as the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce and Labor Council.<\/p>\n

\"\"The 39 bus drives through the North Beach neighborhood of San Francisco on June 30, 2026.\u00a0(Martin do Nascimento\/KQED)<\/p>\n

\u201cSafe, affordable, reliable\u202ftransit gets our kids to school, people to work, and our seniors to the grocery store,\u201d Lurie said in a statement. \u201cAs we make critical investments in Muni, we will continue to make it more accountable and more reliable so we can serve every San Franciscan.\u201d<\/p>\n

The measure is opposed by the San Francisco Republican Party, which argues the measure writes a blank check to the city\u2019s Municipal Transit Agency but does not require the SFMTA, which runs Muni, to cut costs, hit efficiency targets or act on recommendations from a mandated efficiency review. The party argued the tax is unfair because it is based on square footage, not property values, and owners of rent-controlled units can pass 50% of the tax onto their tenants.<\/p>\n

The measure will need a simple majority to pass this November.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The passage of Proposition H would not completely resolve Muni\u2019s budget deficit. The agency is also banking on a separate regional sales tax measure<\/a> that is set to go before voters in five Bay Area counties this November to prevent service cuts. Regional Measure RTM would establish a half-cent sales tax in Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, and a 1-cent sales tax in San Francisco, to generate around $1 billion annually over 14 years to fund operations at major Bay Area transit agencies including Muni.<\/p>\n

The report by San Francisco\u2019s Office of the Controller did not address the economic impact of Regional Measure RTM.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The findings project fallout related to Proposition H, a proposed parcel tax meant to fund the transit agency.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":466232,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[101,103,102,104,106,105],"class_list":["post-466231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco-headlines","tag-san-francisco-news","tag-sf","tag-sf-headlines","tag-sf-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466231","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=466231"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466231\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/466232"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=466231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=466231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=466231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}