‘BACK TO WORK SD’ BUDGET PAVES WAY TO INVEST IN NEIGHBORHOODS, ADDRESS HOMELESSNESS, FIX ROADS
In a nod to his commitment to prioritizing an equitable recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, Mayor Todd Gloria today won unanimous support from the City Council for his “Back to Work SD” budget that sets the City on a fiscally responsible path to erase the structural budget deficit, while investing in neighborhood services and workers.
“I want to thank the City Council for their unanimous support of my budget that aims to get San Diego back on track,” Mayor Gloria said. “We have significant work ahead of us to solve our City’s biggest challenges: making housing more affordable, ending homelessness, fostering an equitable recovery and fixing our roads. This budget sets us on the path to do that together.”
Despite a projected budget deficit of $124 million after he took office in December, Mayor Gloria crafted a balanced plan that improves neighborhoods, supports working families and creates operational efficiencies. The budget gap was closed with an increase in projected revenue and receiving nearly $300 million in federal relief coming to the City of San Diego over the next two years.
The $4.6 billion budget directs spending levels for City operations and capital projects for Fiscal Year 2022, which runs from July 1, 2021 through June 30, 2022. Today’s budget adoption followed several weeks of review by the public and the City Council.
Budget highlights include:
Getting San Diegans “Back to Work”
- $10 million in nonprofit and small business loans in hard-hit industries and owned by people of color
- The creation of a concierge team to support small businesses
- $750,000 to expand and grow the small business enhancement program to include microgrants
- $900,000 in discretionary grants to provide support to nonprofits and small businesses
- $1 million investment in the Connect2Careers workforce development program to bolster youth employment
Protecting core services and jobs through fiscal responsibility
- $10 million to build quality, complete “sexy” streets in historically underserved communities, with another nearly $30 million planned to come from debt proceeds
- New streetlights in underserved communities
- Creation of a new Compliance Department, which establishes an office dedicated to labor standards enforcement
- Reorganizing the City’s executive team to save $784,000 annually
- Invests in the City’s workforce to make their salaries more competitive with other local agencies
- Two additional fire academies to maintain constant staffing and reduce overtime
- Sets the City on a path to funding stormwater needs
- Begins a multiyear approach to address the City’s structural budget deficit
- Libraries to re-open seven days a week
Investments to combat homelessness
- Creation of a new Homelessness Strategies Department to ensure the City is set up to be successful in its efforts to end homelessness
- More than $7 million for new approaches to help people struggling with substance use and addictions to exit homelessness
- $1 million to expand the People Assisting the Homeless (PATH) Coordinated Street Outreach Program, which uses a person-centered, neighborhood-based approach to cultivate trusting relationships with unsheltered residents and connect them to housing and services
- $1 million to expand rapid-rehousing programs to serve an additional 100 households, including rental assistance and case management
- $300,000 to expand workforce training programs needed to bring more people into a career in providing homelessness services, such as the Homelessness Program for Engaged Educational Resources (PEER) course, a first-of-its kind collaboration between the San Diego Housing Commission and San Diego City College
Equipping San Diegans for a better tomorrow
- Creating a new “Summer for All of Us” program to help children and their families take part in activities at libraries and recreation centers in historically underserved communities
- $500,000 to enhance summer library youth programming
- Continuation and expansion of the “SDAccess4All” initiative that aims to increase internet and technology access
Progress on police reform
- Across the board decrease to San Diego Police Department overtime, netting a savings of more than $4 million annually
- Implementing the new independent Commission on Police Practices
- Continued funding for the “No Shots Fired” gang prevention program and additional community and youth-focused diversion programming
- Moving the Office of Homeland Security out of the Police Department to become the San Diego Office of Emergency Services
Tackling climate change
- Updates to the Climate Action Plan
- Investing $7 million into the new Climate Equity Fund, which includes additional funding secured through the gas and electric franchise agreements Mayor Gloria negotiated
- Creating the City’s Mobility Action Plan
- Building the first phase of the Pure Water recycling program, which is estimated to provide nearly half of the City’s drinking water by 2045
The Mayor’s budget centered on the “Back to Work SD” plan he developed during his campaign and serves as a framework to help San Diegans devastated by COVID-19 and equip them for a brighter future. The budget sets the City on a path toward structurally balancing its City finances over the next five years.
