San Diegans will be able to have their say on Mayor Todd Gloria's revised Fiscal Year 2027 Budget today, as the San Diego City Council holds a special session at 6 p.m.
The revised proposed budget, released last week, found additional revenue sources to help preserve some library and recreation center hours, shoreline bathrooms and "December Nights," but arts could still be gutted if the revision passes.
"Even in a difficult budget year, we continued looking for ways to protect neighborhood services responsibly," Gloria said. "My May revise restores targeted services in some of our historically underserved communities while still maintaining our focus on the fundamentals for San Diegans: keeping you safe, fixing infrastructure, reducing homelessness and building more homes."
Proposed additions include protecting recreation center and library hours in Council Districts 4, 8 and 9, Monday hours at Carmel Valley Library and preventing the North Clairemont Library Branch from closing, protection of staffing support for December Nights planning and operations, another $500,000 for youth drop-in centers and allocating opioid settlement funds toward treatment and support programs through UC San Diego and the San Diego LGBT Community Center.
Even so, Library Foundation SD began a signed postcard campaign last week to urge the council to rescind $6.3 million in proposed cuts, saying the benefits of libraries far outweigh the costs.
Gloria said new sources of revenue to cover the above additions include an increase in tourism occupancy tax — charged to those who stay in the city's hotels — and a $4.3 million boost to revenue by recovering rent from the city's golf courses.
"Every private golf course in San Diego pays rent for the land it sits on," he said. "Our public courses sit on public land owned by the people of San Diego. The new legal guidance allows us to properly account for the value of that land, and to make sure the public benefits when the courses succeed."
George Duardo, president of the San Diego City Firefighters, said some cuts slated for the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department were worrying — such as bomb squad staffing, the community resource officer, the recruitment and retention officer, fire information officer position and fire academy instructor.
"While good the city found additional money in the budget, it is unfortunate that it wasn't directed to reverse the proposed cuts to Fire-Rescue staffing and operations," he said. "We are hopeful the council and mayor can truly make public safety a priority and not compromise fire staffing and response times via the cuts on the table."
Additionally, a nearly $12 million cut to funding for arts and culture grant programs and additional cuts to the Office of Child and Youth Success are not restored in the revised proposal.
"While we appreciate that community advocacy helped move this conversation forward, we are extremely disappointed that the mayor did not restore any of the arts and culture funding in the FY27 budget," said Christine Martinez, manager of Arts+Culture: San Diego. "Our sector made it overwhelmingly clear that these cuts would be devastating. Arts organizations are still facing enormous uncertainty and many are being forced to consider layoffs, reduced programming and cuts to community services. There is still time for the City Council to fully restore this funding and protect one of San Diego's most valuable economic and cultural assets."
The $6.4 billion proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2026/27 will be discussed, debated and amended until June 9, the city's deadline for adopting a final budget. Gloria said the nearly $120 million hole in the city's finances was built over decades of deferred maintenance, rising costs and changing priorities in Washington and Sacramento.
After widely unpopular efforts to raise revenues instead of cutting city services — such as paid Balboa Park parking, special event parking rates increasing downtown and the trash fee — Gloria's proposed budget appears to focus on paring down rather than expanding revenue sources.
Still, the revise does take into account community feedback.
"Libraries, recreation centers, youth programs and violence prevention services are essential investments in our neighborhoods and important to the people we serve every day," Councilman Henry Foster III said. "The proposed restorations in the mayor's May revise reflect the advocacy from residents, community leaders and my council colleagues who fought to protect critical neighborhood services, especially in historically underserved communities like District 4. While there is much more work ahead in this budget process, I remain committed to delivering a final budget that prioritizes equity, opportunity and quality of life for all residents."
Brigette Browning, president of the San Diego & Imperial Counties Labor Council, said the revise was a good sign.
"Working families can't afford a city that isn't fiscally stable, and they can't afford a city that abandons its workers when things get hard," she said. "The May revision moves in the right direction — restoring positions, funding services, and keeping the city's commitments to the people who make it run."
A survey with 13,640 responses completed earlier this month found the issues San Diegans are most passionate about are, in order: poor street or sidewalk conditions, homelessness and housing costs. The top three areas where the public would least like to see cuts are: street repair, police and fire.
