Council Overrules Mayor's Cuts, Bets on Unproven Revenue
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The San Diego City Council voted 7-2 Wednesday to adopt a budget that reverses nearly all of Mayor Todd Gloria's proposed service reductions, restoring recreation center hours at every city location, returning Monday library service to 16 of the city's 37 branches, and preserving beach fire rings at La Jolla Shores and other coastal parks. Council members Jennifer Campbell and Vivian Moreno cast the two dissenting votes.
Gloria had proposed those cuts to close a $258 million deficit, but the council opted instead to fund restorations through a combination of higher parking meter rates, increased citation penalties, a residential trash pickup fee not yet implemented, and a hotel room tax increase. The city's Independent Budget Analyst explicitly warned of the risks should those revenue projections fall short.
The mayor has until June 15 to sign or veto specific line items, but the 7-2 margin gives the council a supermajority capable of overriding any veto. That arithmetic puts Gloria in a difficult position: vetoing popular restorations risks appearing weak heading into a potential reelection year, while signing a budget built on unproven revenue streams exposes the city to mid-year cuts or emergency borrowing if the money does not materialize.
Compounding the fiscal uncertainty, a Superior Court judgment ordering the city to pay $16.5 million over improper parking fines — covered below — was not factored into any of the budget calculations adopted Wednesday.