San Francisco and Boston are often compared to each other – highly educated, smallish cities by the ocean with a rich history filled with tourists and dedicated fans of sports and politics.

But lately the comparisons aren’t so flattering.

The city of San Francisco, plagued by crime, homelessness and a collapse in the downtown real estate market, is now being forced to make dramatic budget cuts to offset years of ill-advised spending.

And to make matters worse, the person who oversaw that skyrocketing spending in San Francisco is now in charge of the budget for Boston Mayor Michelle Wu.

Ashley Groffenberger, Wu’s chief financial officer, presided over San Francisco’s out-of-control budget — which now faces 15% across the board cuts to deal with an estimated $1 billion deficit.

The move by the City by the Bay to cut spending could foreshadow things to come in Boston, which is also struggling with sharply declining tax revenues as a result of a collapse in the commercial real estate industry.

The big question now is will Wu be forced to follow suit and order steep cuts to offset the loss of tax revenue?

“We need to stop spending more than we can afford while prioritizing investments that are critical to a full economic recovery and the maintenance of essential services,” San Francisco Mayor-elect Daniel Lurie said in a post on X. “Beyond living within our means, fostering a diverse and growing economy is critical to eliminating chronic budget deficits.”

Groffenberger was budget director for Mayor London Breed, who was defeated by Lurie in her re-election bid in November. Wu plucked Groffenberger to take over Boston’s $4.6 billion budget.

San Francisco’s budget woes are due to the collapse of the once thriving downtown center, its largest tax generator.

Boston is facing a similar financial crisis because of vacancies and a loss of rental income in the downtown area, which also supplies the city with critical tax revenue.

The first term Boston mayor so far has strongly resisted any attempts to cut the bloated $4.6 billion budget, which increased by 8% this year.

But some state lawmakers and city councilors are calling on her to consider slashing spending programs on woke projects like bike lanes in order to prevent steep increases in residents’ and businesses’ tax bills.

The budget issue came to a head this week when Wu’s home rule petition to raise commercial tax rates died in the State Senate, where teed off lawmakers criticized Wu for stoking “fear” by giving misleading and false data to back up her tax plan.

City Councilor Ed Flynn on Tuesday wrote to the Inspector General, asking for an investigation into how the Wu administration gave the council and lawmakers “outdated and inaccurate” data to help broom through Wu’s home rule petition.

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Asked about the failed process of getting the petition through the Legislature, Wu on Wednesday called it an “eye opening experience” while refusing to take any of the blame for the failure herself.

“We don’t have time at the city level to play games,” she said during her regular friendly appearance on GBH radio.

In the same interview, Wu admitted taxpayers might be on the hook for White Stadium renovation overruns, the latest blow to her political clout.