If you’ve been trying to understand how Mayor Jerry Sanders would prioritize spending next year, you might start with the graphic below, which illustrates his proposed budget for major city departments.
Public safety — police, fire, EMS and lifeguards — would continue to receive more than a majority of the city’s $1.1 billion operating budget. Those departments would become a greater proportion of the city’s spending while departments such as libraries and parks and recreation bear the brunt of proposed cuts.
Operating hours at average branch library and recreational center would be cut in half under Sanders’ proposal. Libraries would be open 18.5 hours a week — two weekdays and alternating Saturdays. Recreational center hours would drop from 40 to 20 hours per week. Together, these cuts would save the city $10.7 million, or nearly 20 percent of the estimated $56.7 million budget gap next year.
Here’s a more detailed, interactive version of the graphic, which includes proposed spending for each city department. You can find a copy of the proposed budget, here.
For anything else, please contact Keegan Kyle directly at keegan.kyle@voiceofsandiego.org or 619.550.5668 and follow him on Twitter: twitter.com/keegankyle.