FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, June 21, 2021

CONTACT:
MayorPress@sandiego.gov

SAN DIEGO Fulfilling his promise to deliver a city budget that is balanced, on time and getting San Diego back to work, Mayor Todd Gloria signed into law his Back to Work SD budget today alongside City Council President Dr. Jennifer Campbell, City Council Budget Committee Chair Chris Cate and Councilmember Raul Campillo.

After years of budget mismanagement and a pandemic that wreaked havoc on our local economy, this budget sets our city on the path to get back on track and back to work, Mayor Gloria said. With the City budget now law, we are going to make the key investments necessary to foster an equitable recovery from COVID-19, make housing more affordable, address homelessness and fix our roads.

Mayor Glorias Back to Work SD budget sets the City on a fiscally responsible path to erase the structural budget deficit, while investing in neighborhood services and workers.

This budget shows how united we are in moving San Diego forward, said Council President Campbell. We have dedicated money to supporting small businesses, combating homelessness, tackling climate change and providing the core services San Diegans deserve.

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.

"I want to thank Mayor Gloria, the City Council and all City staff for a budget that maintains vital core city services that our residents rely upon each and every day, Budget Chair Cate said. This budget commits an unprecedented amount of infrastructure investments throughout the City, including communities of concern. It also includes significant funding to tackle homelessness, including funding to increase social service outreach to people experiencing homelessness. As we begin to determine our path post-pandemic, our focus needs to be on supporting our neighborhoods and allowing our small business owners and residents to get back to work and thrive."

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. Todays budget signing followed several weeks of review by the public and the City Council.

Mayor Gloria and the City Council delivered the budget we promised last year: one that makes unprecedented investments in stemming homelessness, boosting small businesses, improving infrastructure, and that helps those most in need coming out of the pandemic, Councilmember Campillo said. I want to thank Mayor Gloria for his vision and his leadership on these issues. Im also proud of the additions the Council and I advocated for, most especially my key priority: the Office of Child and Youth Success, a long-overdue step towards ensuring that San Diego is the best place to raise a family. I look forward to working with the Mayor and my Council colleagues in creating this Office that will help provide affordable, quality childcare and youth-centered programs for so many in San Diego.

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
• $475,000 for 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
• $700,000 for a streets assessment study that would help determine repair priorities
• $1.7 million for streetlights, including $200,000 for new streetlights in underserved communities
• $2.2 million to create a new Compliance Department, which establishes an office dedicated to labor standards enforcement
• Reorganizing the Citys executive team to save $784,000 annually
• Invests in the Citys 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 Citys 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

• Establishment of a new Office of Child and Youth Success
• 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 Citys Mobility Action Plan
• Building the first phase of the Pure Water recycling program, which is estimated to provide nearly half of the Citys drinking water by 2045
• Allocates $1 million for the City to study becoming an energy utility supplier

The Mayors 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.

The Citys budget documents can be found here.

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