California IN BRIEF : SAN FRANCISCO : Budget Analysts Add Up Quake Costs

Budget analysts have made it clear that the financial aftershocks from the Oct. 17 earthquake will shape the city’s revenues for years to come. In their first major report since the temblor, the city analysts estimated that the disaster has cost San Francisco as much as $15 million in lost revenue from sales, business, parking and hotel taxes. The city anticipated collecting $852 million in revenue overall and the money has already been budgeted. The shortfall must be recovered through budget cuts or from the city’s reserves, analysts say. The property tax loss will not be felt this year because the state is reimbursing San Francisco for those losses. However, the report estimated that in future years the city could lose $3.6 million annually from homes that have been demolished or damaged so badly they can not be lived in.