Department of Streets and Sanitation – BGA Policy 2027 Budget Snapshot

One of the city’s highest-profile departments in terms of day-to-day public services, the Department of Streets and Sanitation handles garbage, recycling, street cleaning, tree trimming, and other public infrastructure services.  

• DSS saw the largest net increase in budgeted headcount this year, up 84 positions/FTEs, with the largest increases in the General Laborer (+23 positions/FTEs), Sanitation Laborer (+17), and Tree Trimmer (+16) titles, as well as 19 new positions/FTEs across the Motor Truck Driver and Pool Motor Truck Driver positions.
  
• Prior to the proposed 2027 increase, DSS staffing had declined slightly over time, with departmental budgeted headcount shrinking at an average annual rate of -1% from 2011-2026.
  
• In 2025, for the second year in a row, DSS overspent slightly on personnel services, a broad category that includes salaries, overtime, and other payroll expenses. The department as a whole stayed under-budget, with savings in outside contracting (88.8% spent) and commodities (66.8%) more than compensating for the personnel overspend.
  
• Outside contracting through the professional and technical services appropriation is up substantially, with a $9.4 million (22.1%) increase over the previous year, and the department’s material and supplies budget jumped $6.7 million (40.8%). 

From 2011-2026, DSS’s budget grew at an average rate of 2.6% annually, or 0.4% when adjusted for inflation through 2025, compared to a citywide average rate of 5.5% (inflation-adjusted 3.2%). The current proposal would increase the department’s appropriations by 9.2% from the previous year.

Estimated Fringe Costs

City budgets do not break out “fringe” pension and benefit costs for non-grant positions by department, instead grouping them together as citywide expenses under the Finance General section of the budget. To better reflect the real cost of service for departmental operations, BGA Policy has included an estimate of pension and benefit costs for the years 2018-2026, using Department of Finance fringe memos from each relevant year. An estimated fringe cost for the 2027 proposal uses the average annual rate of increase for each of the inputs into the fringe formulae. 

Based on the city’s fringe formulae, the DEPT fringe cost for nongrant employees averaged 31.8% from 2018-2026, compared to a citywide average of 26.8%. 

Local Fund Actual Spend

Over the past four complete budget years for which local fund actuals/encumbrances data is available, DSS spent on average 94.6% of its locally funded budget, compared to the citywide average 86.6% local fund spend.

Budgeted Positions & Vacancies

Staffing levels at DSS have declined slightly over time, with departmental budgeted headcount shrinking at an average annual rate of -1% from 2011-2026, compared to a citywide average annual change of -0.1%. The current proposal would increase budgeted headcount by 3.8% from the previous year. The bulk of DSS’s workforce is budgeted as hourly positions, with a relatively small number of FTEs from budgeted hours as well. 

From January through September of 2026, the months for which full-time position vacancy data is currently available, DEPARTMENT averaged a 7.2% vacancy rate, compared to the citywide average of 11.2%. 

28 of the department’s budgeted full-time positions were persistent vacancies (defined as the number of positions within the same combination of title, subsection, section, division, department, and fund codes that remained vacant in all nine months of available data), giving the department a very low persistent vacancy rate of 1.3%: 

The proposed 2027 budget calls for a net increase of 84 positions/FTEs at DSS, with the largest increases in the General Laborer (+23 positions/FTEs), Sanitation Laborer (+17), and Tree Trimmer (+16) titles, as well as 19 new positions/FTEs across the Motor Truck Driver and Pool Motor Truck Driver positions. 

DSS is 97.9% locally-funded in this year’s budget proposal, down slightly from the previous year’s 99.1%. The majority of DSS’s funding comes from the city’s general purpose corporate fund, with smaller but still significant appropriations from the garbage collection fund and vehicle/fuel tax funds. 

Largest Appropriations

As with most departments, personnel costs make up the bulk of DSS’s appropriations, with salaries and wages on payroll by far the largest expense category, followed by waste disposal services and outside contracting via the professional and technical services appropriation. 

In 2025, the most recent complete budget year for which local fund actuals and encumbrances data is available, DSS spent 96% of its locally-funded budget. 

For the second year in a row, DSS overspent slightly on personnel services, a broad category that includes salaries, overtime, and other payroll expenses. The department as a whole stayed under-budget, with savings in outside contracting (88.8% spent) and commodities (66.8%) more than compensating for the personnel overspend. 

Change from Previous Year

Unsurprisingly given the substantial headcount increase, DSS’s largest single-category appropriations increase in the 2027 proposal is for wages and salaries on payroll, up $14.9 million (7.4%) from the previous year. Outside contracting through the professional and technical services appropriation is also up substantially, with a $9.4 million (22.1%) increase over the previous year, and the department’s material and supplies budget jumped $6.7 million (40.8%).