FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
Tuesday, June 17, 2025

CONTACT:
MayorPress@sandiego.gov 

SAN DIEGO – Mayor Todd Gloria today announced his actions on the City of San Diego’s Fiscal Year 2026 budget (FY26) – specifically, that he is supporting restoration of hours at recreation centers, libraries, and two reservoirs, while also exercising his authority under the City Charter to line-item veto certain modifications made by the City Council in the budget proposal they passed on June 10.  

The Mayor’s action delivers core neighborhood services for residents while supporting the City of San Diego’s long-term fiscal stability and meeting his commitment to confront the City’s long-standing structural budget deficit.  

“The task ahead is to right-size our city budget – not just for this year, but for the long term,” said Mayor Todd Gloria during his 2025 State of the City Address on January 15. “It means matching up our resources with our priorities and making hard choices, including reducing or eliminating some city services.” 

That theme was reflected in the Mayor’s final proposed budget, which he presented to the City Council last month, and in today’s announcement of his line-item veto actions on the City Council’s adopted budget. The Mayor’s action was guided by credible warnings from the Independent Budget Analyst, Department of Finance, and City Attorney’s Office about the financial and operational risk of some of the changes the City Council made during their June 10 budget hearing. 

“As Mayor, I cannot in good conscience allow a budget built on shaky assumptions to move forward—not when we’re facing national economic uncertainty, global instability, and real threats to the federal and state funding we rely on,” Mayor Todd Gloria said, as part of his veto announcement, “That’s why, under the authority granted to me by the City Charter, I am using my line-item veto to restore balance to the budget. At the same time, I am accepting several Council additions that align with our shared priorities and that we can afford to support.” 

In order to refine and rebalance the budget, Mayor Gloria is vetoing the following additional expenditures proposed by the City Council:  

• The City Council’s discretionary funds known as Community Projects, Programs and Services (CPPS) -- $900,000. In a year when residents are being asked to accept service-level reductions, the Mayor believes this is not the time to continue discretionary spending for individual Council Offices. This funding is better reallocated to citywide priorities.
• The City Council’s discretionary grant funding for arts known as Arts, Culture, and Community Festivals (ACCF) -- $450,000. While the Mayor supports arts and culture programming, again, in a year when departments and residents are being asked to accept service-level reductions, the Mayor believes this is not the time to preserve discretionary spending for individual Council Offices. This funding is better reallocated to citywide priorities.
• Chief Operating Officer position – $225,000 (for six months of funding with the Council assuming a six-month national search for which no funding was allocated). This position was intentionally eliminated by the Mayor in February to streamline executive management and reduce overhead costs. Reinstating it would decrease efficiency at City Hall.
• Two management positions in the Office of Race and Equity -- $450,000. The important work of advancing equity and breaking down systemic racism in city processes continues as part of the City’s Human Resources Department, which is integrated throughout the organization. These additional management positions are unnecessary to maintain progress on ensuring City processes, hiring, and resource allocations achieve these goals.
• Stormwater contingency funding -- $757,156. The Mayor remains committed to investing in critical stormwater infrastructure, which has long been overlooked. FY 26 will be the second year that we will be clearing 18 miles of channels, compared to 4 miles in past years. This contingency funding lacked an identified need at this time – and would not result in any new construction of stormwater projects.
• Brush management enforcement-- $1.1 million. This addition was neither identified as a majority-supported expenditure modification by the Council nor recommended by the IBA. Multiple City departments collectively spend more than $8.5 million annually performing brush management on City land.
• Multi-disciplinary outreach team -- $250,000. The City continues to invest in a wide range of effective homeless outreach strategies that include clinical, housing navigation, and case management components. The base funding for outreach will remain in the FY26 budget, but the Mayor does not support this addition in light of fiscal constraints.
• Recreation programming at lakes (aside from Lake Miramar and Lake Murray) -- $208,000. The Mayor’s action preserves hours at Lake Miramar and Lake Murray, which are among the most heavily used locations, and those he heard the most about from San Diegans.
• Short-term rental occupancy nexus study -- $95,000. The City has been implementing and enforcing its regulations to the short-term rental program. Adding a study is premature and an unnecessary cost at this time. 

Mayor Gloria also vetoed a number of personnel reductions by the City Council to preserve five positions he has determined to be critical to operations -- four of which are currently filled by city employees. These include:  

• Media Services Coordinator in the Communications Department - $160,000
• Media Services Manager in the Communications Department – $167,000
• Deputy Director in the Compliance Department - $278,713
• Two Deputy Chief Operating Officers - $800,000

The City Council’s changes added $19.2 million in General Fund expenditures to the Mayor’s Final Proposed Budget. The Mayor’s line-item veto shrinks these additions by $4.91 million. 

Further, the Mayor is sustaining a majority of the City Council’s new revenue proposals. However, he is adjusting the proposed revenue levels to reflect operational realities and realistic implementation timelines.  

In all, the revenue for the new sources were adjusted downward by just under $3.55 million.  

“If the revenues that the City Council passed and projected don’t fully materialize—and all indicators suggest they won’t—we’ll be forced to cut costs mid-year, and quickly,” said Mayor Todd Gloria. “That could mean layoffs, full closures of libraries and rec centers, brown-outs of fire stations, and fewer road repairs. That’s not the future I want for San Diego. And I don’t believe it’s what the City Council wants either.” 

Under the budget action announced today, the Mayor is preserving:  

• Monday hours at 16 branch libraries;
• Recreation center hours will be fully restored to their current levels;
• Beach and Balboa Park restroom service will stay at current levels; and,
• Beach fire pits will remain.

Per the City Charter, the City Council has five business days from the issue of the Mayor’s veto to sustain or override it. The veto memo will be issued Wednesday, giving the City Council until June 26 for consideration. Two-thirds of the City Council – six of nine Councilmembers – must vote to override any veto.  

“This action protects public safety, preserves jobs and neighborhood services, and—if we stay disciplined—makes it less likely we’ll face a deficit like this again in the years ahead,” added Mayor Gloria. “I urge the City Council to accept this compromise—a budget that restores essential services without overcommitting the City’s finances.” 

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