San Francisco’s Democrat Mayor Daniel Lurie quietly approved legislation just days before Christmas, creating a city-sanctioned reparations fund that lays the groundwork for potential future payments that could reach $5 million per eligible black resident.
Lurie signed the Reparations Bill two days before the holiday with little public attention, authorizing the establishment of a reparations fund but without allocating any city money to it.
The ordinance formalizes the fund recommended in the African American Reparations Advisory Committee’s 2023 report.
While the measure does not dedicate financial resources, it creates a framework that could later be funded either through public dollars or private donors.
The advisory committee is tasked with developing “recommendations for repairing harm in our black communities,” according to its website.
San Francisco journalist Erica Sandberg was among the first to highlight Lurie’s low-profile approval of the ordinance.
The committee’s 2023 report proposes what it describes as a $5 million lump-sum payment for each eligible African American adult in order to “compensate the affected population for the decades of harm that they have experienced.”
Roughly 50,000 black residents live in the city, though eligibility standards have not been clearly defined.
That proposal has generated significant backlash.
It is one of more than 100 recommendations in the report, which also include debt relief, debt forgiveness, city-funded housing, and a guaranteed $97,000 annual income for black residents.
In 2023, the Hoover Institution warned that implementing the reparations package would amount to an estimated $600,000 tax burden per non-African American household in San Francisco.
Lurie disputed the feasibility of that outcome, telling the Daily Mail that the city’s fiscal reality makes such spending unrealistic.
“For several years, communities across the city have been working with the government to acknowledge the decades of harm done to San Francisco’s black community,” Lurie wrote.
“While that process largely predates my administration, I am signing the legislation to create this fund in recognition of the work of so many San Franciscans and the unanimous support of the Board of Supervisors.”
Lurie noted that San Francisco is facing a $1 billion budget deficit next year.
“That means identifying key priorities for funding so we can continue delivering those services well,” he explained.
“Given these historic fiscal challenges, the city does not have resources to allocate to this fund.”
He added that the administration remains open to outside financing, stating that “if there is private funding that can be legally dedicated to this fund, we stand ready to ensure that funding gets to those who are eligible for it.”
Critics have questioned the timing and quiet approval of the measure, arguing that city officials advanced a highly controversial policy during the holiday period when many residents were unlikely to notice.
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