Mayor Todd Gloria Wednesday released his final proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2026, restoring some funding to the San Diego Police Department and the San Diego Humane Society.
The money available to the city has not changed significantly in the past month since the first draft proposal, but Gloria said public input has rearranged some 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 said. "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 largest adjustment is to restore $773,529 of a $1.7 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) LaCava for listening to the community and prioritizing public safety," said Sgt. Jared Wilson, president of the Police Officers Association. "The now-restored vice detectives are critical to addressing some of San Diego's most pressing issues, including prostitution and human trafficking.
"Northwestern Division's restoration will ensure that the San Diego Police Department maintains its high level of service throughout every corner of our city. This final proposed budget delivers on the message Mayor Gloria has said time and time again — public safety is this administration's highest priority."
Additional public safety revisions included restoring a community resources officer and bomb squad cross-staffing in the San Diego Fire-Rescue department
Lifeguard Sergeant Connor Robbins, chief steward of Teamsters 911, 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 said. "This budget indicates that the city's leadership recognizes the life-saving measures that our members provide each day. We are proud of the work that we do to keep our residents and visitors safe when they enjoy our beaches and bays."
In December, Gloria announced that San Diego was facing a $258 million budget deficit in the next fiscal year "amid declining growth in property, hotel room and sales taxes," a statement 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 election, voters declined 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 draft budget included a "rightsizing" of fees, such as 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 2020, 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 1, but the issue remains tied up in court.
On 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," said CouncilmanSean 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 resources 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 City Heights Community Development Corporation, Chicano Federation, Emilio Nares Foundation, Employee Rights Center and the San Diego Parks Foundation, said 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 risk," a statement 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."
Mayor Gloria will present his Final Proposed Budget to the City Council in a public hearing on Monday, May 19. The proposed budget released Wednesday will be turned over to the City Council to review and revise, with a vote on the final budget expected by June 10.
