OUR MISSION: To provide our customers with high-quality, efficient and reliable water, power and sewer services in a manner that values environmental and community interests and sustains the resources entrusted to our care.
Financial Services
525 Golden Gate Avenue, 4th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94102
T 415.934.5707
F 415.554.1877
Date: May 26, 2026
To: Commissioner Joshua Arce, President
Commissioner Steve Leveroni, Vice President
Commissioner Avni Jamdar
Commissioner Kate Stacy
Commissioner Meghan Thurlow
Through: Dennis J. Herrera, General Manager
From: Anna Duning, Budget Director
Subject: SFPUC FY 2025-26 Overtime Supplemental Request
San Francisco Administrative Code Section 3.17 requires certain City departments, including the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC), to obtain Board of Supervisors approval if they expect to spend more on overtime than the amount appropriated in their annual budget. As in previous years, the Mayor’s Office has introduced an overtime supplemental ordinance for several City departments that require this approval. It was heard on the May 6, 2026, Budget and Finance Committee meeting.
FY 2025-26 Overtime to Exceed Budget
Original
Budget
Estimated
Spending Shortfall
Water Enterprise 2,274,317 3,224,317 (950,000)
Hetch Hetchy Water 915,001 1,215,001 (300,000)
SFPUC projected Shortfall (1,250,000)
Based on the expenditures to date and projected spending through June 30, 2026, an additional $1,250,000 in overtime is needed; $950,000 for the Water Enterprise and $300,000 for Hetch Hetchy Water. This additional overtime spending will be offset with reductions to the permanent salary budget due to vacancy savings, resulting in no net budgetary increase. Please note the FY 2025-26 overtime budget was set in February 2024 during the SFPUC biennial budget process.
The following factors contribute to projected additional overtime spending:
Water Enterprise – $950,000
Overtime usage was primarily driven by the need to provide additional staff coverage to address critical maintenance within the Water Supply and Treatment Division. Maintenance work on regional water transmission pipelines required more time than originally anticipated to ensure regulatory compliance and system reliability. Further, major capital projects have required shutting down Mountain Tunnel, which transmits water from the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir. When Mountain Tunnel is non-operational, increased staffing is needed at the Harry Tracy and Sunol Vally water treatment plants to keep water flowing to customers. Additionally, unforeseen issues with the fire suppression system at Millbrae Yard necessitated staff presence to monitor facility conditions and ensure operational safety.
Hetch Hetchy Water - $300,000
The primary overtime drivers include staff coverage due to vacancies and leaves, emergency response due to winter storms, and critical maintenance in the regional water system. More specifically, in the past fiscal year, multiple winter storms felled trees damaging power lines and blocking roads maintained and used by HHW to access critical water and power delivery facilities. Immediate repairs were made to maintain access to these facilities. The shutdown of Mountain Tunnel also caused a spike in overtime as staff performed repairs to the HHWP system while the water was off. The Powerhouse Operations team is also short-staffed due to retirements and restrictions on hiring. It is a 24- 7 operation requiring scheduled overtime. Finally, from April through June crews often work 10-hour days to perform wildfire mitigation and vegetation management work on thousands of acres of watershed.
These locations span 150 miles and often take 1.5-2 hours to reach by truck. Allowing crews to work longer hours is the most efficient way to address long travel times and perform the needed work.