A city’s budget should be a reflection of the peoples’ dreams for the city they love. A municipal budget is the financial tool to carry out the goals and aspirations of the community. The general and the community plans should be the major framework for the shared vision of both the citizens and the city administration.
But San Diego, in recent years, has lacked the funds for the things we need to make the city not only work but also to make the city be a place we want to live.
The importance of the budget was cited by Mayor Todd Gloria in his 2027 budget letter. In it he said, “The Fiscal Year 2027 Draft Budget is not an easy budget, but it is a responsible one. It reflects the hard choices required to move San Diego toward long-term fiscal stability while continuing to protect public safety, homelessness response, housing, and infrastructure.”
Yes, public safety is important, but revenues need to be increased to pay for the things that make our city thrive because the dreams of the people are much bigger than simply balancing the budget.
Gloria also said, “A city that papers over its financial problems year after year cannot invest in its neighborhoods, cannot plan for the future, and cannot weather the unexpected.”
So where does the money come from to fund our dreams? Increased sales tax, transient occupancy tax and paid parking are a few tools to use, but the citizens and business community have refused these options. Maybe the budget we have, which pays only for essentials, is the budget that we get when we refuse to pay for what we want.
Trust between the government and its people needs to be in place in order to agree to raise taxes to pay for the things that make our city delightful. This is where our shortfall currently stands.
In 2009 during Mayor Jerry Sanders’ administration, a Citizens’ Fiscal Sustainability Task Force was formed to review the city’s fiscal sustainability when it was revealed that there would be a $179 million budget deficit for 2010/2011 fiscal year. This was during the Great Recession when tax revenues were declining and a crisis emerged around the unsustainable City Employees’ Retirement System payment obligation.
Vince Mudd, a civic and business leader, led a highly qualified, experienced and apolitical team to uncover the fiscal challenges and make a recommended course for action.
The task force found that the city was living beyond its means by deferring long term commitments, under-funding reserve accounts and under-funding the employee pension fund, which was in large part the cause of the fiscal crisis.
Recommended solutions included cutting costs, delivering city services in a more cost effective way like managed competition, changing the scope of services that the city defines as core services and increasing city fees and taxes. These were prudent measures that still make sense today.
In the executive summary, the task force stated that “if the budget shortfall is not addressed quickly, it could lead to the city’s inability to continue to provide the services the citizens have come to enjoy”.
It seems that we have reached that place now, especially when social infrastructure like libraries, recreation centers and arts programs are being cut, which greatly impacts the quality of our lives.
We seem to know what we need to do so why don’t we do it? As Mudd said recently, “A decade and a half later, the city again finds itself stuck in the same fiscal mess. This constant lack of fiscal discipline is not smart and it is unsustainable. We all know there is a sustainable way out of this morass and it’s time to get it done.”
Pete Garcia, another member of the Fiscal Sustainability Committee, said, “The principal root causes of the structural budget deficit have not changed in all these years. It’s still a lack of sufficient revenues, both in personal and corporate taxes, together with a lack of efficiencies in operating the city government, and squandering money like purchasing 101 Ash Street.”
Based on our professional work we both have some knowledge of the budget process but it is confusing when trying to figure out all the places that the money comes from, how it gets moved around, and how it all gets spent. And most importantly, figuring out who is making the decisions to move budget dollars around and why.
We suggest creating a permanent San Diego Citizens Budget Review Committee to monitor expenditures, revenues and long term strategic plans. It would be a transparent way to establish more accountability between city administration and citizens. It would take grit, determination and community consensus to make the hard decisions to innovate our way out of the fiscal rut we are in.
The trust that gets built during the process will create a solid platform for discussion when we decide to raise taxes to pay for the things we want.
Many cities across the country have fiscal oversight committees. We might look for new models using some of the programs we have tried in the past and recreate them for the 21st Century.
In addition to citizens holding the city accountable we also invite the councilmembers to do the same. We applaud Councilmember Raul Campillo, who said, “Councilmembers are elected from districts, but we govern one city. If each of us only speaks up about problems within our own district’s boundary lines, citywide accountability disappears”.
San Diego is not alone in needing to create more sustainable systems. That is why the Bloomberg Philanthropies Mayors Challenge was created. Through a grant program it empowers cities to try innovative approaches to improve public services that people rely on every day.
Carol Coletta, a Bloomberg public innovation fellow, will be the keynote speaker for the San Diego Coalition for Public Places annual meeting in 2027. She will be bringing ideas for what is working in other cities. Maybe some of the ideas can work for San Diego as we innovate beyond our roadblocks.
Tending to San Diegan’s “dreams” will require a rebuilding of social capital between the citizens and the city’s management team. Developing social capital includes building trust. A starting place would be to create safe, engaging and enjoyable places where all are welcome.
As we come together in these places we can decide collectively where we want to go and how to make it happen. The focus can be on using innovation, efficiency and new revenue sources to continually build the city we love.
Michael J. Stepner is a former San Diego City Architect and professor emeritus of the New School of Architecture and Design. He is the recipient of the 2024 AIA San Diego Lifetime Achievement Award. Mary Lydon, the principal of Lydon Associates, has held leadership roles within the Urban Land Institute, the Downtown San Diego Partnership, and Housing You Matters. She also served on the San Diego Planning Commission.
Michael J. Stepner, FAIA, FAICP, is former City of San Diego Architect and Professor Emeritus of the New School of Architecture and Design. He is the recipient of the 2024 AIA San Diego Lifetime Achievement Award. He serves on numerous boards and committees including the San Diego Coalition for Public Places
Mary Lydon, the principal of Lydon Associates, has held leadership roles within the Urban Land Institute, the Downtown San Diego Partnership, and Housing You Matters. She also served on the City of San Diego Planning Commission. She currently serves on the boards of the National Center for Creative Land Recycling, UCSD Housing Policy and Design Center, San Diego Coalition for Public Places and Humble Design San Diego
