There’s been no rebound to the city of San Diego’s financial fortunes.
City revenues are projected to be down nearly $60 million this year mainly because of weaker than expected sales and tourist taxes. That data will be presented to a City Council committee this week.
The picture is so gloomy the city will need to find almost $10 million between now and July to meet its goal of having 7 percent of its operating budget in reserves, a commitment made by Mayor Jerry Sanders’ Office and the City Council.
The city’s cost-cutting measures have helped plug the gap, but not as much as hoped because of the time needed to comply with labor laws before implementing some cost reductions, the report states.
Unspent money from last year, primarily from the stormwater and general services departments, further narrows the gap between revenues and expenditures, but that still leaves a projected year-end $11.2 million deficit.
Unlike last year, city Chief Operating Officer Jay Goldstone said the city didn’t plan to use reserves to balance the city’s accounts.
“We will make the appropriate cuts in order to not have to do it this year,” Goldstone said.
The city’s year-end projected revenues are $1.05 billion, a 5 percent decline from what the city expected when it put together this year’s day-to-day operating budget.
Correction: An earlier version of this post misstated the city’s year-end projected revenues and how much they were expected to decline. I used the wrong number from the report in my comparison. We regret the error.
— LIAM DILLON