Mayor Todd Gloria will announce a series of budget cuts Tuesday "designed to generate cost savings and minimize service-level reductions," according to his office.
Gloria's announcement comes as the city faces a significant budget deficit "following the narrow failure of Measure E — and after months of careful review and consideration of potential reductions and consolidations," officials said, adding that, at 11 a.m. at city hall, "Mayor Todd Gloria will announce a series of operational efficiencies to generate cost savings and help preserve city services for San Diegans."
A reader of Monday's announcement could interpret the phrases "reductions" to possibly mean "layoffs," and "operational efficiencies" to possibly be interpreted as "service cutbacks."
A one-cent sales tax measure that could have shored up the impending deficit narrowly failed in November. Gloria discussed the looming $252.2 million deficit during his Jan. 15 State of the City address. As expected, the budget shortfall — comprising around 12% of the city's total spending — made up the majority of that speech.
Get top local stories in San Diego delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC San Diego's News Headlines newsletter.
City of San Diego's Money Moves in Wake of $250 Million Shortfall
...
The mayor said in his speech that San Diegans are natural innovators who will find ways to make things work.
"The stark financial realities we face today will test our resolve," Gloria said. "This is not the time for retreat. This is not the time to slow down. This is the time to double down. We are moving forward."
Since that time, city officials have doubled parking rates around town and are mulling extending the hours for parking meters into the evenings and Sundays — and adding meters where there currently are none, a figure one official speculated could (but probably will not) raise as much as $40 million. Also, San Diegans finally learned how much they may pay for trash pickup in single-family homes (a change passed at the ballot box way back in 2022 but which is just now getting organized), which could theoretically add another $60 million to the city's coffers. Also being considered is a roughly 20% increase in the costs of fees for everything from park rentals to fishing licenses. However, the city, which is currently losing money over its service fees, only hopes to make up that shortfall, since it can't charge more than the services cost. Still, any additional revenue from the fees would allow it to put its subsidies back into the general fund and help defray the shortfall.
Even if all that comes to pass, the city — and Gloria — seem likely to face still face some tough choices to zero out the budget.
Gloria also said in his State of the City speech that it was time for the city to get a fair deal from entities such as the county and Caltrans when it comes to homelessness. He said the city has for far too long shouldered the financial burden of homeless residents suffering from substance abuse and/or mental health issues.
"It's long past time for all the cities in this county to do their part and not simply rely on you, the taxpayers of this city, to continue to foot the bill," Gloria said in January. "My fellow San Diegans, it is my hope that, anytime you see a person on the street suffering from extreme mental illness or addiction, you think of the county of San Diego and ask them: 'When will they step up to provide the services needed to end this crisis?' "
The cit250y of San Diego spent about $230 million last year on homelessness in the 2024/2025 budget year, with an annual budget that year of roughly $5.8 billion.
Gloria also said at the time that police, fire and paramedics remain a top priority for the city despite the structural deficit.
