FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, May 18, 2022

CONTACT:
MayorPress@sandiego.gov

SAN DIEGO Mayor Todd Gloria today released the May Revision to his Ready to Rebuild budget for the fiscal year that begins on July 1, adding a number of new investments that will create more affordable homes, increase shelter capacity for people experiencing homelessness, expand access to mental health treatment, enhance public safety, maintain park bathrooms, increase public internet access, and more.

Our economy is bouncing back from the pandemic, and that means we can invest more resources in our efforts to address the pressing issues facing our city, Mayor Todd Gloria said. My May Revise to our Ready to Rebuild budget means we can build more affordable homes, bring more unhoused people into shelter, clean park bathrooms more often, provide more support for arts and culture and take many other actions to improve our quality of life.

The budget additions were made possible primarily by an increase in the Citys major revenue sources as the economy recovers. Among other changes, Mayor Glorias May revision to his proposed budget reflects:

A commitment to a mental health-focused approach to homelessness:

• A new conservatorship unit within the City Attorneys office, consistent with Mayor Glorias efforts to reform state conservatorship laws to make it easier people who repeatedly struggle with mental health crises to receive the help they need ($547,000)
• Funding for the Citys first Chief Behavioral Health Officer to assist paramedics with clients in need of mental health services ($331,000)
• More shelter options and Safe Haven beds for San Diegans experiencing homelessness who have co-occurring behavioral health and substance-abuse disorders ($5.4 million)

A commitment to building more affordable housing:

• Additional funds for the Mayors Bridge to Home program, which provides gap-financing to assist in the construction of more affordable homes. ($5.8 million)

A commitment to enhanced public safety:

• Five lifeguard sergeants for the night shift ($528,000)
• Cleaning and security at City park bathrooms ($1.9 million)
• Police officer overtime ($4.1 million)
• Police recruitment services ($100,000)

A commitment to increased neighborhood services for all San Diegans:

• Graffiti removal, turf maintenance and facilities improvements at San Diego parks ($594,000)
• Doubling of library internet hotspots, from 2,000 to 4,000 ($1.1 million)
• Additional staff in the Personnel Department to speed hiring of qualified candidates ($1.3 million)
• Arts, culture and community festivals ($1.7 million)
• Development of a citywide economic development strategy ($200,000)

The May Revision also includes capital project allocations for the $7.4 million added to the Climate Equity Fund in the FY23 proposed budget. The fund, which Mayor Gloria and the City Council established last year, is designed to help underserved communities respond to the impacts of climate change. This years proposed Climate Equity Fund projects include:

• Streetlight installation in Council Districts 4, 7 and 8 ($2 million)
• Improvements to Chicano Park in Barrio Logan and the Willie Henderson Sports Complex in Mountain View ($4.6 million)
• Traffic calming measures in Chollas View and Linda Vista ($800,000)

In addition, the revised budget includes Proposition B transition costs totaling $76.7 million across all departments citywide an increase of $40.8 million over the allocation in the proposed budget.

The May Revision brings the total City budget for the 2023 fiscal year to $5.03 billion, up from $4.89 billion proposed in April. It includes a projected increase of $18.8 million in major General Fund revenues and departmental revenue, primarily from property, sales and transient occupancy taxes, as well as increased use of federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds of $24.2 million resulting from resources that were unspent in fiscal year 2022. The Mayors Ready to Rebuild budget remains as the largest investment in infrastructure in the Citys history.

Decisions on the additional investments were based in part on feedback received during recent hearings of the City Councils Budget Review Committee. The Budget Review Committee will hold a hearing on the revised budget this Thursday, May 19, at 2 p.m. The City Council is scheduled to vote on the budget on June 13.

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