The city of San Diego's contribution to its pension system in the next fiscal year will be $25.3 million less than expected, providing some wiggle room in budget planning, the mayor's office announced today.
The San Diego City Employees Retirement System was going to post the numbers on its website, sdcers.org, after lunch time.
City officials were expecting to face a $31.8 million deficit when they began planning for the budget year that begins July 1, but now that figure will drop to $12.2 million for the general fund -- which pays for basic city services.
About 77 percent of the city's contribution comes from the general fund, which is why some of the savings will be applied to other areas of the budget.
"This is yet another positive step as we look to balance the city's budget next year and accomplish my goal of ending the city's 30-year-old structural budget deficit,'' Mayor Jerry Sanders said. "My administration will work diligently over the next few months to develop a budget that is balanced, that eliminates the structural budget deficit and best preserves services to the public.''
Solving the structural budget deficit -- differences in revenues and expenses that occur in some areas annually -- was one of Sanders' top goals when he took office.
The contribution to SDCERS is expected to be $231.3 million.
