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This year, the Arts Commission allocated 22% of Prop E (2018) hotel tax dollars to departmental administrative fees. That’s nearly ¼ of Prop E arts dollars not going out to the community.

Rooted in Cultural Equity legislation, The overwhelming majority of Arts Commission grants go to BIPOC, LGBTQ+, female, senior-serving organizations and individual artists, as well as artists with disabilities and organizations that serve the disability community.

Source: SFAC Cultural Services Allocation Plan

Every organization must have budgets of less than $3 million, and most are well below that threshold.  These individuals and organizations represent the most vulnerable low-wage, and under resourced in the city arts community. 

The Mayor’s proposed budget states that more than 80% of individual artists awarded SFAC grants in FY25 earned less than the San Francisco median income.

Source: Mayor’s June 1, 2026 Proposed Budget Book

Does the City really want to deny mandated, set-aside funding to vulnerable culture bearers and nonprofits, all while repeating that the arts are key to San Francisco’s recovery?

Prop E passed with 75% voter support in 2018, creating a dedicated hotel-tax revenue stream for arts and culture.

Source: SFAC Cultural Services Allocation Plan

In 2020, the first full year of Prop E funding, about 10% of the funds went to support SFAC administration. That share has since more than doubled. This number has been creeping up since Prop E passed in 2018.

The 22% is not only allocated to grant-program administration; some of it is siphoned to other SFAC functions outside grantmaking, which undermines the spirit of the legislation.

While City Hall may have redirected those funds to avoid layoffs, that is not what SF voters approved when they passed Prop E.

Source: SFAC Cultural Services Allocation Plan

Without strong SFAC leadership, the department did not negotiate for the correct spending of those funds or advocate for general fund support that would have reduced the pressure on Prop E. So now community has to do it.

It’s troubling that Mayor Daniel Lurie’s downtown revitalization effort has reeled in $60 million in private commitments for downtown activations and recovery projects. If even one-sixth of that private fundraising were directed to the arts department, it could help stabilize the agency supporting the artists the city keeps calling essential to recovery.

Source: San Francisco Downtown Development Corporation News

We urge the City to look at other revenue sources for the arts — in health, small business, housing, and workforce development. The money is out there; the City just needs the will to go get it and prove the sincerity of the narrative we keep hearing about the arts being key to economic recovery.

Source: Arts for a Better Bay Area

Show Up. Speak Out.

Let City Hall see that San Francisco’s arts community is organized, informed, and ready to be heard.