Latest Reports Showcase San Francisco’s Public Service Outcomes and the Conditions of Public Parks

SAN FRANCISCO — The Controller’s Office has released two key annual reports that highlight how well San Francisco is delivering public services to residents: San Francisco’s Annual Performance Results for Fiscal Year 2025 and the Annual Park Maintenance Standards Key Findings Report. Together, these reports are part of the City’s ongoing commitment to transparency, accountability, and continuous improvement in how local government serves its residents.

The Annual Performance Results summarize how well each City department meets their major goals through the lens of San Francisco Performance Scorecards, which are interactive online tools that provide timely information on the efficiency and effectiveness of local government services. The Scorecards cover six key topic areas that matter most to the public: Homelessness, Public Safety, Public Health, Safety Net, Transportation, and Livability. City departments set targets each year for their performance measures and then track progress towards meeting those targets.

In Fiscal Year 2025, City departments navigated substantial administrative and fiscal changes — including a mayoral transition, the implementation of expanded equity-driven initiatives, and structural measures to mitigate a budget deficit — all of which had varied impacts on service delivery.

Notable trends in FY25 across selected service areas included:

Expanded capacity in the Homelessness Response System

• Number of active shelter beds increased by 6.6%, up from 4,545 in FY24 to 4,844 in FY25.
• Number of permanent supportive housing units increased by 7.9%, up from 13,848 in FY24 to 14,994 in FY25.
• While the City support the expansion of shelter bed capacity across the City, HSH reported 10.6% fewer households ending homelessness by moving into a permanent housing situation, down from 5,551 in FY24 to 4,989 in FY25.

Decreased reported crime

• Reported violent offenses decreased by 17%, down from 36,671 in FY24 to 27,545 in FY25.
• Reported thefts from vehicles decreased by 52%, down from 12,255 in FY24 to 5,891 in FY25.
• Reported property offenses decreased by 25%, down from 5,208 in FY24 to 4,302 in FY25.
• Reported offenses and thefts in the City are down however the average daily jail population increased by 13%, up from 1,099 in FY24 to 1,237 in FY25.

Increased number of people accessing health and human services

• Number of individuals receiving substance use services grew by 15%, up from 14,581 to 16,804 in FY25.
• Medi-Cal caseload increased by 3.2%, up from 139,863 in FY24 to 144,392 in FY25.
• CalFresh caseload counts increased by nearly 3.7%, up from 80,046 to 82,989 in FY25.
• CalWORKs caseload nears ten-year high, up by 6.8%, from 3,711 in FY24 to 3,963 in FY25.

San Francisco’s public parks are consistently rated among the best in the United States. In 2017, San Francisco became the first city in the nation where all residents live within a 10-minute walk of a park. The Park Maintenance Annual Report and interactive dashboards offer a transparent look into the essential services provided by San Francisco’s Recreation and Parks Department.

Every three months, teams from the Controller’s Office and the Recreation and Parks Department conduct evaluation visits across the City where staff review the conditions of the parks using a detailed set of standards. These visits help assess how well parks are being maintained — from children’s play areas and athletic fields to outdoor courts and dog play areas. The Controller’s Office analyzes the data and publishes the results in annual reports, which help inform Recreation and Park’s operations, while giving residents a richer, more in-depth view of park maintenance efforts.

In FY25, results show the Recreation and Parks department continues to maintain most City parks at a high standard. Over a quarter of parks scored above 95%, while only 18 parks in the system did not meet Recreation and Park’s minimum goal score of 85%. At these parks, lower scores were often due to surface, sand, and pathway conditions. Targeted short-term measures — such as restoring sand levels and improving trash and recycling management — could support immediate improvements in overall park scores.

“Collecting and analyzing citywide data informs good policy and helps to tell a more comprehensive story about complicated issues,” said Controller Greg Wagner. “The snapshots and trends we see throughout the year from our Scorecards and Parks data helps departments and policymakers maintain key successes and determine where they might need to pivot.”

“Each year, the Park Maintenance Standards report gives us a clear picture of how well we are serving San Franciscans, and this year’s results show meaningful, systemwide progress,” said Sarah Madland, Acting General Manager of the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department. “Not only did our overall park score rise, more than a quarter of all parks scored above 95 percent and four parks earned perfect scores. Importantly, parks in communities that have historically faced environmental health burdens were just as strong as in the rest of the city. These improvements reflect the daily work of our gardeners, custodians, and maintenance teams who care deeply about public spaces in every San Francisco neighborhood.”

About the City of San Francisco’s Performance Program

Since 2003, the Controller’s Office Performance Program has coordinated the collection and reporting of performance results for all City departments to monitor the level and effectiveness of public services provided by the City and County of San Francisco. The Performance Program is an initiative of the San Francisco Controller's Office. The Annual Report Online Viewer is a tool that visualizes departmental performance data. The viewer includes an interactive line graph comparing departments' targets to their year-end data, a measure description section that describes the measure, and a table that presents historical targets and results.

About the Park Maintenance Standard and Evaluation Program

The Park Maintenance Standard and Evaluation Program was voted into the San Francisco Charter in 2003 in order to evaluate whether San Francisco parks are meeting set standards developed through partnership between the San Francisco Controller’s Office and the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department. The maintenance of each park is evaluated every three months and after inspection of a park’s different features (such as play areas, restrooms, and trees), the Controller’s Office will publish the results through annual reports and dashboards. The Recreation and Park Department uses these tools to guide its improvement of park conditions.