Mayor Todd Gloria Set Out to Fix the City’s Deficit This Year. He Didn’t. 

On Jan. 15, Mayor Todd Gloria had a message for the city: This is the year of austerity.  

He was determined to “right-size” the ship and finally tackle the city’s more than $300 million deficit. With the city reeling from the failure of a sales tax increase Gloria said he would take on the responsible stewardship of “every dollar.” 

Early on, he got rid of the city’s chief operating officer, proposed cuts to libraries, and crafted a paid parking plan for Balboa Park. He talked about looking at the way we’ve done things and analyzing if that’s how we should continue. He also asked city departments to hunker down on their budgets and issued a hiring freeze. 

What We Learned This Year is our annual reporting series where reporters reflect on some of the biggest stories of the year. Read more stories here.

“The stark financial realities we face today will be a true test of our resolve,” he said during his Jan. 15 state of the city address. “We adjust, we get creative, and we make the most of what we have.” 

But those plans didn’t fully materialize, and now revenues are coming in lower than projected while expenses continue to add up.  

Balboa Park Parking Could Leave a Big Budget Hole  

In June, the San Diego City Council approved a budget that included a new revenue stream. They planned to collect $15.5 million from parking fees at Balboa Park.  

The idea was for all the money generated in the park to go back to the park. This would offset the park’s expenses and free up dollars in the general fund for other uses. 

It wasn’t lost on anyone that they’d have to deliver or face the consequences. Here’s how Councilmember Henry Foster put it during a May Budget Committee meeting: 

“I just want to make sure that we continue to stress to the public that this proposed budget does include assumptions, assumptions in which Council has not taken place. As we continue to talk about the items of trash fees, as we continue to talk about the items of parking fees and various other fees, that action has not taken place — that if certain things do not transpire that there would need to be more conversations, and more conversations on cuts which will become more and more difficult.”   

To meet their projected revenue, the city had to start charging for parking by Oct. 1 and reach a deal with the San Diego Zoo to share parking revenue from the zoo’s lot.  

But the initial paid parking proposal in July led to debate among the councilmembers about how much to charge, who to charge, and whether the city should provide annual and quarterly options. 

The Council’s actions pushed back the start date for paid parking to Jan. 5, almost three months after the target start date. 

Delayed timelines and reduced rates shrunk the projected revenue from $15.5 million to approximately $4 million. 

What started as an ambitious plan to charge millions at San Diego’s historically free park, has spiraled into an approximately $8.8 million budget shortfall, according to latest estimates from the IBA.  

Cuts Didn’t Fully Materialize  

This year the mayor and City Council couldn’t get on the same page about what to cut and what to keep. 

Initially, the mayor proposed cuts to San Diego library hours on Sunday and Monday at all branches. Councilmembers pushed back and restored Monday hours at 16 local branches.  

Gloria also proposed cuts to recreation center hours, but councilmembers restored them. He cut the Arts, Culture, and Community Festivals program to save $450,000.  

But other cuts didn’t materialize at all.  

Back in the summer, Gloria got heat for proposing cuts to public restrooms and firepits. Those cuts also didn’t materialize. The City Council managed to cut two deputy chief operating officers and two management roles in the police and compliance departments in the final budget. This would have saved the city $1.3 million annually. 

The mayor refused to nix those positions. Instead, a couple months later, two of the deputy chief officers left the city and other department heads joined the executive team as part of the city’s “realignment.” 

In a memo to city departments in November, Gloria asked departments to hunker down on their budget. He wrote that he was focused on measures, “to reduce spending and maintain [the city’s] fiscal stability.”  

Fees They Enacted Weren’t Enough  

The Balboa Park parking plan has a projected $8.8 million shortfall, and it’s unclear what the city will do to solve for it. 

And the millions to come from the zoo remains a mystery. The zoo announced in November that they would start charging for parking in January to align with the paid parking plan, but we still don’t know how much the city’s cut will be. Or where that money will go. Negotiations are ongoing. 

The city’s new trash fee should have some impact on the general fund, since trash collection used to be paid out of the general fund. We’ll get a better understanding when the mid-year budget report at the end of January comes in. 

At a Dec. 15 City Council meeting on the first quarter budget report, Council president Joe LaCava said: “I think it’s a good caution.” 

“When you introduce revenue previously untested… to be very cautious about your revenue projections and how that may change the public’s behavior going forward. I think we’re all trying very hard, but let’s learn from the lessons.” 

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