San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria recently unveiled his proposed budget for the 2025 fiscal year, totaling $5.65 billion. The budget highlights focus on ongoing efforts to improve the city’s environment while avoiding major service cuts.
During a press conference on April 12th, Mayor Gloria stated, “The budget balances multiple factors to continue driving San Diego’s development.”
Facing the dual pressures of declining revenue and rising costs, Gloria emphasized the need to make difficult choices to maintain funding for key priorities, including addressing homelessness, expanding housing, repairing roads and other critical infrastructure, and ensuring public safety.
San Diego is projected to face a budget shortfall of $136.8 million this year. Gloria noted that while one-time measures have been used to avert the most severe budget cuts, such approaches will not be sustainable in the coming years. Therefore, addressing the structural deficit will be crucial in the budget-making process.
Despite reducing non-personnel expenditures in department budgets, Gloria’s budget proposal for the 2025 fiscal year represents a significant increase compared to the $51.2 billion budget in 2023.
The budget proposal includes a $26.6 million increase in funding to tackle the homeless issue. This incorporates a Safe Parking Program, converting the former Navy site H Barracks adjacent to San Diego International Airport into a camp with 200 secure parking spaces for individuals living in their vehicles.
The homeless initiative also involves repurposing a building on the outskirts of downtown at Kettner Boulevard and Vine Street into a 1,000-bed homeless shelter.
In terms of infrastructure, Gloria allocated $104.6 million in the budget for road construction and design. The budget proposal aims to increase the maintenance mileage of major streets from 60 miles in the current fiscal year to 75 miles in the 2025 fiscal year and provide funding for planned 105 miles in fiscal year 2026.
The budget proposal also includes $85.1 million for flood prevention and green infrastructure projects, supplementing the existing over $1.5 billion investment in water infrastructure projects.
In January, heavy rains and a lack of maintenance in flood control systems led to severe flooding in low-income areas in southeast San Diego, resulting in significant property damage and displacing thousands of residents who had to be accommodated in hotels for months.
Gloria emphasized minimal cuts to the budgets of the San Diego Police and Fire departments to maintain current service levels.
To address the budget shortfall of over a hundred million dollars, some city departments will face cuts, including funding for the newly established Office of Immigrant Affairs. Additionally, contributions to the city’s reserve fund account will be suspended for a year.
The budget proposal will undergo several weeks of public hearings. The City Council is set to conduct final reviews in mid-June and pass appropriation ordinances before June 30th.