SAN DIEGO (CNS) - The San Diego City Council voted 7-2 today to approve the budget for the 2025-26 fiscal year, which will cut library hours on Sundays and not fill certain executive positions, but restores recreation center hours, Monday library hours at select branches and lake access. However, how it funds those previously cut items might get messy.
The restoration of those items and others, such as homelessness services and beach fire rings, depends on new revenue streams which may not be feasible.
Councilman Henry Foster III, the city council's budget committee chair, revealed these new sources of revenue Tuesday. They entail early debt payoffs and not filling vacant management positions, charging non-residents to park in Balboa Park and at the San Diego Zoo, allowing for digital advertising and billboards and increasing credit card fees for city business.
Councilwoman Jennifer Campbell voted no on the budget, stating she was not convinced the city could actually afford to pay for all the things Foster's final modifications listed.
Councilman Stephen Whitburn said the parking fees could be implemented in September, "which is just 12 weeks away'' and haven't even been approved by the council. He said he would oppose any move to charge for parking unless a portion of the park remained free, as he did not want to deter tourism.
Leslie Fitzgerald, a deputy city attorney, said her office was still investigating the legality of the parking and advertising sources of revenue, which could prove a speed bump or an outright dead end.
San Diego's Independent Budget Analyst Charles Modica -- who is tasked with offering the city's leaders a nonpartisan take on spending -- said the budget was already relying on "optimistic figures'' even before Foster's modifications. He said adding speculative sources of revenue would open the city up to risk and lead to later cuts or tapping into the city's reserves.
"I hope all the sources of revenue come to fruition,'' he said. "If they come to fruition, we have a balanced budget.''
Another cost-cutting measure was to move the city's Office of Race & Equity to Modica's office. Modica said he had not typically been tasked with running departments previously under the purview of the administration, but would follow the council's lead.
Councilman Raul Campillo, who had reservations about how the city would afford the modifications but ultimately voted to approve the budget, said he was glad recreational access was restored for city lakes and reservoirs.
"The full restoration of Lake Murray access is a win for the thousands of San Diegans who made their voices heard loud and clear: we would not stand for this,'' he said.
"From the hundreds who delivered public testimony at Budget Review Committee meetings to the over eight thousand people who signed a widely circulated online petition, our neighborhoods rose up in a true grassroots effort to save our lake -- and today, we succeeded.''
Mayor Todd Gloria -- who now can veto the budget and can only be overridden by a council supermajority -- announced in December the city was facing a $258 million budget deficit in the next fiscal year amid declining growth in property, hotel room and sales taxes.
His office responded to Tuesday's vote with this statement from Rachel Laing, Director of Communications for Gloria's administration:
“Last month, Mayor Gloria presented the City Council with a proposed budget that was responsible, strategic, and balanced. Today, the Council added tens of millions of dollars in new spending and changes, many of which raised concerns from both the Independent Budget Analyst and the City Attorney’s Office.
“Over the next several days, the Mayor and his team will closely review the Council’s amendments to ensure the final budget meets the level of fiscal responsibility this moment demands, especially given the current economic uncertainty and global instability.
“As always, San Diegans can count on the Mayor to sign a budget that is balanced, fiscally sound, and workable for our city.”
ABC 10News showed Council President Joe LaCava that statement immediately after Tuesday's meeting. He responded by saying, "Well, that is part of the budget process. That happens every year. Now, the city council this year was especially aggressive, based on responding to our constituents and the concerns they had about the mayor's draft. Going forward, I don't think anybody should be surprised that the council was going to dig deep and really try to figure out how to restore library hours, recreation center hours, hours at recreation lakes, and a number of other issues that we thought were particularly important."
LaCava added, "We also have to have a budget that's not only balanced, but actually based on resources that are credible and achievable over the course of the year. But also, operationally, can they actually deliver the restoration that we're talking about? So, the mayor is doing his job after we did our job."
Gloria initially proposed some cuts to the San Diego Police Department and San Diego Fire-Rescue Department, before restoring some of those in the may revision, but not to parks and libraries.
Library hours were restored to some of the city's branches, at least one in each council district. Even with creative revenue sourcing, the council couldn't find enough funding to keep the libraries open Sunday.
Gloria's budget was initially met with an icy reaction. He agreed the proposed cuts were unfortunate, but reminded the council what happened the last time the city was faced with such a large deficit -- when Gloria was on the council. Library hours were cut and some fire stations were "browned out,'' leading to slower response times, and -- Gloria said -- even some deaths.
"I don't want you to have the same regrets I had when I served,'' the mayor said.
That deficit then continued to grow because of a decrease in sales tax revenue, lower-than-anticipated franchise fees from San Diego Gas & Electric and an increase in employee pension costs.
In November's election, voters rejected the San Diego Transaction and Use Tax, which would have increased the tax on transactions in the city by 1%, bringing the total sales tax to 8.75%.
The current rate of 7.75% leaves the city tied for the fourth-lowest of the state's 482 municipalities and lower than nine of the county's 18 cities, according to the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration.
The additional $400 million that would have been raised by the proposal was a key emphasis of the measure's proponents, but the other side of that issue -- the cuts that would need to be made if it were not passed -- was less frequently referenced.
The discussion on Tuesday led to some relief for the dozens who spoke at the meeting, urging the city to restore recreation center and library hours. However, some of the solutions proposed for the 2025-26 fiscal year may only be a stop-gap measure as the city continues to contend with its structural deficit.
"I believe this is a fiscally responsible item before us,'' Council President Pro Tempore Kent Lee said. ``But there is more work to do next year.''
Tasha Williamson, an activist and former candidate for mayor, spoke passionately during public comment, demanding transparency from the city government on how the San Diego Police Department is spending its money, particularly following an Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid in South Park two weeks ago.
Other activists echoed Williamson's thoughts, encouraging the city to step away from automated license plate readers and other surveillance technologies used by the police, instead allocating those funds on libraries and recreation centers.
Councilman Stephen Whitburn, who supported the license plate-reading technology several years ago, said the political climate has changed, and is concerned the technology could be used to aid federal immigration actions. He asked for the city to revisit the contract.
Councilwoman Marni von Wilpert said she understood the concerns over the technology, but cited multiple cases in which it has helped SDPD solve crimes and save lives.
Councilwoman Vivian Moreno voted no on the budget, but did thank her colleagues for restoring youth programs.
"The funding was always available for these programs, we just had to prioritize it,'' she said. Her reason for voting no on the budget was a lack of funding for channel and flood management, reminding the council of the January 2024 floods caused by backup up stormwater systems that left hundreds homeless.
A final city budget must be passed by June 15 by California state law. It would wake effect July 1.
Gloria has five business days to veto or modify any line item approved by the council. Any proposed modification by the mayor to the council's budget may only address changes that the council made to the May revisions on Tuesday.
Council would then have the opportunity to override any vetos with six votes.
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