San Francisco Office of Reparations budget gets gutted by Democratic mayor as city faces deficit

San Francisco's Office of Reparations' $2M budget was cut, leaving the future of the move to compensate Black residents with billions to repair the wrongs of slavery shrouded in uncertainty as the city anticipated a deficit in 2024. 

San Francisco's proposed reparation payments to eligible Black residents were once estimated to cost over $100 billion, as was previously reported. But now, Mayor London Breed, a Democrat, has cut the Office of Reparations to deal with an expected deficit in 2024. However, the high cost was viewed as "unrealistic" for a city already struggling with its budget and a lack of agreement over the issue.

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors had previously considered doling out $5 million each to qualifying Black residents in reparations as a way to make amends for slavery.

A majority of Californians do not support reparations, according to a September poll. Almost 60% of California voters opposed cash payments, while 29% of voters supported the idea, according to a UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll that was cosponsored by the Los Angeles Times.

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Mayor London Breed cut the Office of Reparations' budget, according to the San Francisco Examiner.  (Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

The reparations committee's chair, consultant Eric McDonnell, told The Washington Post the $5 million number came as a result of a "journey" rather than a "math formula."

"There wasn’t a math formula. It was a journey for the committee towards what could represent a significant enough investment in families to put them on this path to economic well-being, growth and vitality that chattel slavery and all the policies that flowed from it destroyed," he said.

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The city's supervisor, Shamann Walton, told the San Francisco Examiner that the cuts to the office's budget were "disheartening."

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"I understand the importance of no cuts to existing programs, but the Black community will continue to pursue justice and equity through reparations here in San Francisco," Walton said. "My hope is that the city’s deficit is eliminated quickly so that we can fund the Office of Reparations and fulfill the commitment made to address the historical injustices and inequities that have persisted for generations for Black San Franciscans."

Fox News Digital reached out to the mayor's office for comment and did not immediately receive a response. 

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Fox News' Anders Hagstrom and Aaron Kliegman contributed to this report.