Budget cuts may be coming to San Diego, but not for a couple months. The mayor plans to wait until spring to present his budget.
The city budget is usually presented in April. But last year Mayor Jerry Sanders offered mid-year adjustments around December in order to save about $24 million. The city’s COO Jay Goldstone said the city can’t save as much this year.
“This year, the number is anywhere from $3 million to $6 million,” he said. “And with the economy showing some signs of life again and some of these other ideas that are floating around, plus getting through some of these reforms measure, it’s wiser, in our judgment, to wait.”
Goldstone told the city’s budget committee that he was uncertain whether San Diego’s projected deficit would remain around $72 million. He said he’ll have a better idea once the city knows for sure how much it’ll have to pay in pension costs this year. The projected cost is $255 million. The mayor’s budget calls for making the full payment.
Councilman Carl DeMaio criticized the mayor's office for not making mid-year adjustments this time around.
"If we make mid-year budget cuts, we can bank those savings and make next year's budget deficit challenge smaller," DeMaio said.
Goldstone declined to outline which service cuts the mayor would propose in his fiscal year 2012 budget. But he did pledge to move ahead with the 10 financial and pension reforms outlined in Proposition D, the failed measure to increase the city's sales tax. The amount the city will save from those changes is uncertain.
