A new, five-year financial outlook for the city of San Diego indicates the need for $19 million in municipal budget cuts going into the next fiscal year that begins July 1.
But officials say things could be a lot worse – and that there’s long-term good news that overshadows the short-term bad news.
"If you remember back to 2009, just to get to the baseline, we had to make $90 million worth of reductions,” city financial management director Jeff Sturak told reporters at a Thursday morning news conference at City Hall. “So you can see, over the years, we have definitely righted the ship."
Despite the projected $19 million budget shortfall, Interim Mayor Todd Gloria called current city service levels “manageable for the foreseeable future” – and pointed to four years of projected growth in “best-guess” budget surpluses that will top $100 million by fiscal year 2018-19.
Gloria said he wanted a long-range forecast that was transparent and comprehensive, avoiding one-time revenue fixes and accounting tricks that defer payments year after year.
"I think that what you saw in the past, where folks were very happy to spend whatever, without any real thought about whether or not we could afford it. Those days are over at City Hall."
Councilmembers will have to weigh priorities such as a five-year, $66 million plan for beefing up the police department against more discretionary pet projects and services.
City Hall observers don’t think Gloria is leaving much wiggle room.
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Said Liam Dillon, who covers government and civic issues for Voice of San Diego: "When you commit to a plan, commit to a program, commit to building fire stations, commit to putting more money toward arts, re-paving roads -- these things cost money. For the first time, we're starting to see the city take all those things into account."
Council hearings to balance out the projected $19 million deficit begin next spring, after a new mayor is elected and offers his perspective and priorities.
