City Council to discuss proposed budget at Monday meeting

San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria delivers State of the City Address at City Hall File photo by Tessa Balc Times of San Diego The San Diego City Council will receive a presentation at its meeting Monday on Mayor Todd Gloria s final proposed budget for the fiscal year The revision circulated last week restored a few funding to the San Diego Police Department and the San Diego Humane Society but not to parks and libraries The money available to the city has not changed significantly in the past month since the first draft proposal but Gloria announced society input has rearranged specific of the city s priorities in the final proposal The projections for the major revenues the city relies on to pay for our operations have not improved since the draft budget s release last month but we were able to make small changes in response to what we heard from San Diegans about their priorities through the budget review hearings Gloria disclosed The cuts we were forced to make to balance the budget are not what any of us want but we ve worked within our means to create a responsible strategic and balanced spending plan that prioritizes keeping San Diegans safe fixing our roads and critical infrastructure and reducing homelessness with a range of interventions including building more housing The San Diego library system will feel much of the the cuts All of the city s libraries will be closed on Sundays and Mondays under the revised budget starting as early as July Patrick Stewart chief executive officer of Library Foundation SD noted he was disappointed While this is a laborious budget year for the city the San Diego Community Library is already experiencing the loss of federal and state funding for critical library activities and we hoped to see the city encouragement its libraries rather than cut their hours he explained We remain diligent in our backing of the dedicated library staff who will continue to provide a wide range of services for patrons which is the soul of the library We know that despite the cut to library hours they will continue to serve communities to the best of their ability Last Tuesday Councilman Sean Elo-Rivera and local nonprofits rallied at Jeremy Henwood Memorial Park to demand Gloria and the City Council restore funding to libraries recreation centers and more The speakers and organizations in attendance instead called for a people-first budget investing in young people housing and equity This isn t just about a budget it s about values disclosed Elo-Rivera speaking at the rally at Jeremy Henwood Memorial Park on Tuesday morning Cutting library hours shrinking youth programs and defunding recreation centers might look like math on a spreadsheet but in real life it means fewer safe spaces for kids fewer materials for families and fewer opportunities for our neighborhoods San Diego deserves better and we must say no to across-the-board cuts that fail to recognize the vulnerability in our communities A coalition of organizations including the City Heights District Advancement Corporation Chicano Federation Emilio Nares Foundation Employee Rights Center and the San Diego Parks Foundation disclosed the proposed cuts would deepen racial and economic inequities particularly in low-income and historically under-resourced neighborhoods The groups argue that equal cuts across the board will lead to more negative outcomes in poorer less-white or more diverse communities compared to wealthier whiter or more homogenous ones particularly for children seniors immigrants and job-seekers San Diego s working families and historically under-resourced neighborhoods are at hazard a announcement from Elo-Rivera s office read Proposed city budget cuts threaten the services that keep our communities safe connected and thriving Parks libraries youth programs and housing stability initiatives are not luxuries they are lifelines For decades communities of color have endured chronic underinvestment This coalition is calling for city leadership to fund our future not undermine it The revised budget now directs money to law enforcement It restores of a million reduction to consolidate police patrols in the northern part of the city between the Northern and Northeastern divisions Gloria s new revisions will have patrol officers continue to be based at Northwestern Division but with staffing changes that have them reporting to a lieutenant instead of a captain The proposed budget also restores two vice detective positions that the draft budget had removed I want to thank Mayor Gloria and Council President Joe La Cava for listening to the group and prioritizing community safety stated Sgt Jared Wilson president of the Police Officers Association The now-restored vice detectives are critical to addressing specific of San Diego s greater part pressing issues including prostitution and human trafficking Additional changes to the budget included restoring a society support officer and bomb squad cross-staffing in the San Diego Fire-Rescue department Lifeguard Sgt Connor Robbins chief steward of Teamsters praised the inclusion of an advanced lifeguarding academy We have been eager to get started on our new advanced lifeguard academy and this budget includes it he disclosed The revisions also restore specific but not all of the city s contract with the San Diego Humane Society for animal services Dr Gary Weitzman the organization s president and chief executive officer explained that still leaves a million gap to maintain services This funding gap threatens the city s ability to meet its legal obligations around general safety animal welfare and humane law enforcement he commented These are not optional services they are mandated by the state Without adequate funding the city will still be required to provide these services likely at a significantly higher cost than our current efficient model In December Gloria reported that San Diego was facing a million budget deficit in the next fiscal year amid declining upsurge in property hotel room and sales taxes a announcement from his office read 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 balloting voters declined the San Diego Transaction and Use Tax which would have increased the tax on transactions in the city by bringing the total sales tax to The current rate of leaves the city tied for the fourth-lowest of the state s municipalities and lower than nine of the county s cities according to the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration The additional 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 draft budget also doubled parking meter rates increased parking citation penalties and increase of various fees for services across the city Gloria is also relying on a new fee to collect solid waste which will be decided in June by the City Council and on an increase to the city s hotel tax That latter tax Measure C was approved by a simple majority of San Diego voters in but it needed two-thirds of the vote to pass San Diego decided the two-thirds rule was unfair and has moved forward with the intent to collect the tax beginning May but the issue remains tied up in court Gloria will present the budget to the City Council in a community hearing at p m Monday The proposed budget disclosed Wednesday will be turned over to the City Council to review and revise with a vote on the final budget expected by June City News Facility contributed to this analysis