Some library and recreation center hours and December Nights support were restored in Mayor Todd Gloria’s revised Fiscal Year 2027 Budget Wednesday, but city funding for the arts could still be gutted.
Gloria was joined by civic leaders Wednesday morning to announce changes to his initial proposed budget, released last month. He added “targeted protections” of certain neighborhood priorities and maintained police and fire service levels while arriving at a balanced budget.
Proposed additions include protecting rec center and library hours in Council Districts 4, 8 and 9, represented by Henry L. Foster III, Vivian Moreno and Sean Elo-Rivera, respectively.
Among services saved from the ax or bolstered were:
Staffing support for planning and operations of December Nights, the city’s two-day holiday fest in Balboa Park. The North Clairemont Library Branch, which had been slated for closure. Monday hours at Carmel Valley Library. Youth drop-in centers, with another $500,000 of support. Treatment and support programs through UC San Diego and the San Diego LGBT Community Center from, with the allocation of opioid settlement funds.“Even in a difficult budget year, we continued looking for ways to protect neighborhood services responsibly,” Gloria said. “My May revise restores targeted services in some of our historically underserved communities while still maintaining our focus on the fundamentals for San Diegans: keeping you safe, fixing infrastructure, reducing homelessness and building more homes.”
Gloria said new sources of revenue to cover the additions include an increase in the transient occupancy tax, paid by those who stay in the city’s hotels, and a $4.3 million boost to revenue by recovering rent from the city’s golf courses.
“Every private golf course in San Diego pays rent for the land it sits on,” he said. “Our public courses sit on public land owned by the people of San Diego. The new legal guidance allows us to properly account for the value of that land, and to make sure the public benefits when the courses succeed.”
The mayor held fast, though, regarding a nearly $12 million cut to funding for arts and culture grant programs and additional slashes of the Office of Child and Youth Success. Those areas did not see their funding restored in the revised budget.
“While we appreciate that community advocacy helped move this conversation forward, we are extremely disappointed that the mayor did not restore any of the arts and culture funding in the FY27 budget,” said Christine Martinez, manager of Arts+Culture:San Diego. “Our sector made it overwhelmingly clear that these cuts would be devastating … There is still time for the City Council to fully restore this funding and protect one of San Diego’s most valuable economic and cultural assets.”
The $6.4 billion proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2026/27 will be discussed, debated and amended until June 9, the city’s deadline for adoption. Gloria said the nearly $120 million hole in the city’s finances was built over decades of deferred maintenance, rising costs and changing priorities in Washington and Sacramento.
After widely unpopular efforts to raise funds instead of cutting city services – including paid parking at Balboa Park, special event parking rates downtown and a voter-approved trash fee – Gloria’s proposed budget focuses more on paring back spending rather than expanding revenue sources.
Still, the revise does take into account community feedback. Foster, whose constituents were among Wednesday’s beneficiaries, called libraries, recreation centers, youth programs and violence prevention services “essential investments in our neighborhoods and important to the people we serve every day.”
“The proposed restorations in the mayor’s May revise reflect the advocacy from residents, community leaders and my council colleagues who fought to protect critical neighborhood services, especially in historically underserved communities like District 4,” Foster said.
Brigette Browning, president of the San Diego & Imperial Counties Labor Council, said the revise was a good sign.
“Working families can’t afford a city that isn’t fiscally stable, and they can’t afford a city that abandons its workers when things get hard,” she said. “The May revision moves in the right direction – restoring positions, funding services and keeping the city’s commitments to the people who make it run.”
City Council President Joe LaCava thanked “the individuals and organizations who spoke on how limited city resources should be allocated” and said his council colleagues will continue to accept feedback.
“The May revise restores many of the cuts highlighted by the public and the council,” he said. “The council is still listening as we build toward adoption on June 9.”
Hence then, the article about gloria relents on december nights some community cuts in budget revise but arts funds still on chopping block was published today ( ) and is available on Times of San Diego ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Gloria relents on December Nights, some community cuts in budget revise, but arts funds still on chopping block )
Also on site :
- Don't Do This Before Your Next Blood Test, Doctors Warn
- Costco Shoppers Are Racing to Grab This Ultimate Home Organization Item Before It Sells Out
- California colleges went big on online learning tools. Then the worst happened