San Diego’s leaders failed to get enough voters to back a sales tax increase. Now, they are facing some tough budget conversations in the coming year.
Last week, we got a glimpse of how those talks could go and what to expect as residents of a city facing a $258 million budget deficit.
I watched the San Diego City Council’s Budget and Government Efficiency Committee meeting so you didn’t have to, so grab some cafectio and here’s what stood out to me.
Cuts to Services
Mayor Todd Gloria announced a series of cuts earlier this month. His overall message was that we are in an era of austerity. That includes a hiring freeze for some positions, pausing non-essential travel expenses, halting the revitalization of the city’s civic core and more.
(ICYMI: Gloria joined us on the VOSD Podcast to talk about the city’s budget deficit and more. You can listen to the episode here.)
Michael Zucchet, the leader of the city’s largest employee union, had a take on what the mayor proposed. Zucchet said Gloria didn’t go far enough. He said city leaders can’t expect to simply stop hiring new employees and need to consider cutting services.
“You have to reduce the services that are attached to those positions,” he said, adding that if leaders doesn’t do this, it tells the public that everything is OK and that they won’t be affected.
“Who provides these services? Human beings do and if we are not providing human beings we are not being honest with the public,” he said.
No New Toys
Council members have until Jan. 10 to submit budget memos. These are documents where they lay out their priorities for their Council district. In other words, how much money the city should allocate to certain programs and services.
Council President Joe LaCava asked Charles Modica, the city’s independent budget analyst, what his office is looking for in those memos. Modica’s answer was more about what his office doesn’t want to see.
“Frankly if this Council continues to put forward a laundry list of items that it would like it see in addition to what we are doing right now, that becomes not meaningful in any real way,” Modica said. “We don’t have the resources to do that.”
Honorable Mentions
Increased parking meter fees. Would elected officials be open to pushing increased parking meter fees?
That remains to be seen, but Modica said that if they are willing to do this, his office had previously estimated that such a fee could bring in up to and possibly exceeding $10 million a year.
Police OT for street vendors. I’ve been following the city’s policy on street vending for some time now. When the city first started exploring rules for vending on public property, advocates were adamant that police officers should not enforce the law because it would further criminalize vendors.
But after the city’s rules were set, business owners and residents in coastal communities continued to raise concerns about the number of vendors in certain neighborhoods. Many complained about safety and trash issues.
Cops went out to do enforcement.
At the budget committee meeting, Councilmember Vivian Moreno revealed how much that is costing the city.
The city’s first quarter budget report indicates that the police department is projected to go over its overtime budget by $9.5 million.
“$709,000 of that was related to the enforcement of the sidewalk vending ordinance. This is our PD officers chasing hot dog ladies around,” Moreno said. “In a time of ‘austerity,’ I think that’s something that we should really reassess as a Council.”
Cuts hit different. Moreno was also disturbed by seeing $33 million for a 1,000-bed shelter the City Council has not yet approved included in the city’s five-year financial outlook.
Moreno added that as they continue the difficult discussions, they need to consider a crucial point: “Budget cuts hit differently when you live in communities that already have parks and libraries. When they don’t exist and projects get delayed because of budget cuts it means another generation of San Diegans will go without access to facilities that they deserve to have.”
What We Learned This Year
Our reporters are going to spend this week recapping what we learned this year. They’ve spent all of 2024 reporting on education, scandals, the housing crisis and more. Now it’s time to look back and soak in what we learned.
I hope you enjoy those stories, and of course, if you have feedback or questions, you can reach me at andrea.lopez@voiceofsandiego.org.