San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria wants to close all 37 city library branches every Sunday and Monday, cut recreation center hours by more than 30% and eliminate all of the city’s 184 beach and bay fire rings.
The mayor also is proposing a 10% cut to arts funding, among other measures.
Gloria announced the proposed cuts April 15 to help close a projected $258 million deficit in the city’s general fund budget for the new fiscal year that begins July 1.
In an unusual move, Gloria is characterizing the spending plan as a “draft” budget instead of a “proposed” budget, contending there is so much economic uncertainty that his actual proposed budget will come May 14 when better information is available.
“This is intended to start a conversation,” he said. “It will likely shift substantially as we get additional economic data.”
He said the budget he proposes each May — called the “May revise” — should be considered his actual proposed budget. It will incorporate reactions to the draft proposal from residents, the City Council and the city’s independent budget analyst.
“We will get the public input and the council member input and the IBA’s review, and then we’ll put something together that is more reflective of where all parties are at,” Gloria said.
The City Council is scheduled to review the budget proposal during a week of public hearings May 5-9. The council is scheduled to vote on a final budget Tuesday, June 10.
Several La Jollans weighed in this week after hearing about the proposed cuts.
The city’s La Jolla/Riford Library branch currently is open daily, including 1-5 p.m. Sundays and 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays.
Library visitor Janeth Highsmith said the idea of eliminating Sunday and Monday hours is “not cool.”
“I know a lot of moms from schools that come here with the kids,” she said. “On Saturdays and Sundays, they just want to get the kids out, and they do have a lot of really cool activities here. My son loves it, so it’s kind of sad. … I come here on Mondays. It’s my quiet time and I love it. It should be a place where it’s open for the public.”
Bob Evans, president of the La Jolla Parks & Beaches board, had a similar concern because his group has its monthly meetings at the library on Mondays.
“So our meeting home is threatened,” he said. “We can probably, hopefully, find another place, but it does concern me.”
The proposal to eliminate the city’s beach fire rings — enabling San Diego to have fewer workers overseeing and maintaining them — drew mixed responses.
La Jolla Shores has three rings, according to Shores Association Beach Bonfire Committee representative Andi Andreae.
Beach visitor Nayeli Reyes said they “come in handy.”
“At night it gets cold,” Reyes said. “So it … [helps to] keep people warm or make some s’mores.”
Andreae, however, said “The fire rings have been actually a financial burden on the city and a health burden on the community [because of smoke and particulate pollution]. I think it’s a win-win both for the city in of their budget savings as well as for the community and visitors in of mitigating the health risk.”
Under Gloria’s plan, weekly hours at the city’s 60 recreation centers would be cut from 60-65 to 40. Each center would have 30 core hours and 10 flexible hours scheduled based on neighborhood demand.
La Jolla Recreation Center visitor Keelin Moore, who moved here recently from Texas, said “That’s really hard to hear. I know the kids love it here and it would be hard for them not to play here all the time every day.”
Another visitor who gave his name only as John said “If the city can’t handle what’s in La Jolla, then why do we need the city? We will take care of it ourselves.”
“That’s the reason for being on our own,” the 31-year La Jolla resident said, referring to an ongoing effort to separate La Jolla from San Diego as its own city.
Mary Soriano, president of the La Jolla Town Council, said Independent Budget Analyst Charles Modica may return to speak at the Town Council’s meeting Thursday, June 12, as a follow-up to his appearance at the March 13 meeting. At that meeting, Modica said his office projected that cuts of roughly $100 million from current city services would be necessary in the next fiscal year.
Gloria’s proposed cuts are part of a three-pronged approach he announced late last year after city voters narrowly rejected a proposed 1-percentage-point sales tax increase that officials said would have generated $400 million a year.
Two other prongs — delaying reserve contributions and boosting city revenue with new fees and higher parking meter rates — have already been announced in recent weeks and months.
But until this week’s announcement, the third prong — how the mayor would make cuts to popular city services such as libraries and recreation centers — had been the subject of much speculation.
The proposed cuts add up to $112 million and come with a net reduction of 247 jobs. Some of the eliminated positions are unfilled, but 160 of the city’s 11,000 workers would be laid off or transferred to other positions under the mayor’s plan.
It would be the first time in many years that the city’s general fund would shrink from one fiscal year to the next.
Gloria is proposing a $2.15 billion budget for the new fiscal year, slightly less than the $2.16 billion budget adopted for the current fiscal year.
The proposed budget prioritizes what the mayor calls “core” services: public safety, infrastructure and efforts to fight homelessness and boost housing production.
Despite some targeted cuts, the Fire-Rescue Department would get $24 million more than in the previous budget, and the Police Department would get a $29.3 million boost.
Infrastructure spending would drop from $950 million to $846 million. That’s mostly because spending will decline on the city’s Pure Water project — from $139 million to $35 million — as it nears completion.
Spending on homelessness would drop from $138.5 million to $105.3 million, but the city’s contribution from its general fund would rise slightly from $68 million to $71.1 million.
Overall spending on homelessness would drop because the city expects to receive less money from the state and other sources.
Gloria said he hopes San Diegans will view his proposal as less severe than expected, even though cuts are never popular.
“We’ve done our best first whack at it, but we’re open to hearing from folks how we can do even better,” he said.
The budget plan likely will face criticism from some council and community leaders for its broad, across-the-board cuts to libraries and recreation centers citywide.
Council representing lower-income areas had lobbied for softer cuts in those neighborhoods and deeper cuts in wealthier areas.
Gloria said his approach makes sense for operational reasons and that many people live in one neighborhood but work or go to school in another. “San Diegans don’t live their lives in just one neighborhood,” he said.
In addition to closing the library branches on Sundays and Mondays, there would be cuts to the library system’s homework assistance program. The program would be spared at 10 branches in lower-income areas and eliminated at eight in higher-income neighborhoods.
Arts funding would be cut from $15.3 million to $13.8 million.
Other proposed cuts include closing some restrooms at city beaches and parks, eliminating security guards who close some parks at night and reducing code enforcement officers focused on zoning violations.
In addition, the city’s contract with the San Diego Humane Society for animal services would shrink by $3.5 million, and eliminating fast-response firefighting squads would save $1.5 million.
The plan also includes some new spending, including an additional lifeguard academy, multiple new parks and $26.7 million for traffic safety projects known as “Vision Zero.”
The cuts amount to roughly one-third of the mayor’s efforts to close the projected deficit.
Another key part of his strategy is delaying $64 million in scheduled contributions to city reserves. The general fund reserve would remain at about $208 million.
“We are in a situation that reserves are intended for,” the mayor said. “Rather than draw from them, we are simply not contributing. It seems like a reasonable approach with the times we find ourselves in.”
Another important piece is the addition of new fees and parking revenue that are projected to generate $61 million.
Other key factors are $74.1 million the city expects to save by establishing a fee for trash pickup at single-family homes, a service the city has long been providing without a fee.
The budget also counts on $33.8 million from Measure C, a 2020 ballot measure intended to provide millions for homeless services from higher hotel taxes. A court ruling in a legal challenge is expected this summer.
City officials said they are optimistic the number of layoffs associated with the budget cuts will be small.
“With all the other vacancies across the organization, it’s highly likely most employees get moved from one position to another but remain within the organization,” said Matt Vespi, the city’s chief financial officer.
“The number of truly impacted employees we expect will be pretty low, but we don’t want to get ahead of the process and create false hope or more concern than needs to be created,” Vespi said.
If there is an economic recession, expected reductions in revenue — especially from hotel and sales taxes — would require deeper budget cuts, said Rolando Charvel, the city’s finance director.
Gloria said this year’s budget plan used fewer gimmicks, such as using one-time sources like federal pandemic aid to cover ongoing expenses.
One of the challenges the mayor faced in closing the projected deficit was pay raises that most city employees are scheduled to get July 1. The raises, which will cost about $28 million in the coming fiscal year, are part of negotiated labor contracts.
Also, the city’s annual pension payment is a record-high $533.2 million — $44 million higher than last year and $35 million higher than the pension system’s actuary had projected last spring. ♦
