All San Diego city departments are being asked to identify how they can cut 27 percent out of their discretionary budgets.
City department heads got a memo earlier this week telling them to look for ways to cut 27 percent of their costs. San Diego is facing a projected deficit of $180 million to $200 million. Chief Operating Officer Jay Goldstone says he’ll review the suggestions before the cuts are made.
“We are going to be exploring a whole host of options. But until we know what those options might be, number one, and what the city council may be willing to do, we had to at least identify enough money worth of cuts in order to ensure we had a balanced budget for 2011,” he says.
Goldstone says he would like this year’s cuts to be permanent solutions so the city isn’t in the same position next year. He says he expects layoffs and service reductions when a budget deal is reached.
