Mayor Todd Gloria today announced he will support restoring hours at recreation centers, libraries, and two reservoirs, while exercising his line-item veto authority under the City Charter to refine and rebalance the Fiscal Year 2026 budget proposal passed by the City Council last week.

The Mayor’s action delivers core neighborhood services for residents while supporting the City of San Diego’s long-term fiscal stability and meeting his commitment to confront the City’s long-standing structural budget deficit.  – particularly during a time of economic uncertainty.

The Mayor’s action was guided by credible warnings from the Independent Budget Analyst, Department of Finance, and City Attorney’s Office about the financial and operational risk of some of the changes the City Council made during their June 10 budget hearing.

In order to refine and rebalance the budget, Mayor Gloria is vetoing the following added expenditures by the City Council:

• The City Council’s discretionary funds known as Community Projects, Programs and Services (CPPS) -- $900,000. In a year when residents are being asked to accept service-level reductions, the Mayor believes this is not the time to continue discretionary spending for individual Council Offices. This funding is better reallocated to citywide priorities.
• The City Council’s discretionary grant funding for arts known as Arts, Culture, and Community Festivals (ACCF) -- $450,000. While the Mayor supports arts and culture programming, again, in a year when departments and residents are being asked to accept service-level reductions, the Mayor believes this is not the time to preserve discretionary spending for individual Council Offices. This funding is better reallocated to citywide priorities.
• Chief Operating Officer position -- $225,000 (for six months of funding with the Council assuming a six-month national search for which no funding was allocated). This position was intentionally eliminated by the Mayor in February to streamline executive management and reduce overhead costs. Reinstating it would decrease efficiency at City Hall.
• Two management positions in the Office of Race and Equity -- $450,000. The important work of advancing equity and breaking down systemic racism in any city processes continues as part of the City’s Department of Human Resources, which is integrated throughout the organization. These additional management positions are unnecessary to maintain progress on ensuring City processes, hiring, and resource allocations achieve these goals.
• Stormwater contingency funding -- $757,156. The Mayor remains committed to investing in critical stormwater infrastructure, which has long been overlooked. FY 26 will be the second year that we will be clearing 18 miles of channels compared to 4 miles in past years. This contingency funding lacked an identified need at this time – and would not result in any new construction of stormwater projects.
• Brush management enforcement -- $1.1 million. This addition was neither identified as a majority-supported expenditure modification by the Council nor recommended by the IBA. Multiple City departments collectively spend more than $8.5 million annually performing brush management on City land.
• Multi-disciplinary outreach team -- $250,000. The City continues to invest in a wide range of effective homeless outreach strategies that include clinical, housing navigation, and case management components. The base funding will remain in the FY26 budget, but the Mayor does not support this addition in light of fiscal constraints.
• Recreation programming at lakes (aside from Lake Miramar and Lake Murray) -- $208,000. The Mayor’s action preserves hours at Lake Miramar and Lake Murray, which are among the most heavily used locations, and those he heard the most about from San Diegans.
• Short-term rental occupancy nexus study -- $95,000. The City has been implementing and enforcing its regulations to the short-term rental program. Adding a study at this moment is premature and an unnecessary cost at his time.

Mayor Gloria also vetoed a number of personnel adjustments by the City Council to preserve positions he has determined to be critical to operations at this time, including:

• Media Services Coordinator in the Communications Department - $160,000
• Media Services Manager in the Communications Department – $167,000
• Deputy Director in the Compliance Department - $278,713
• Two Deputy Chief Operating Officers - $800,000

The City Council’s changes added $19.2 million in General Fund expenditures to the Mayor’s Final Proposed Budget. The Mayor’s line-item veto shrinks these additions by $4.91 million.

Mayor Gloria’s adjustments will keep San Diego on its path to long-term stability while honoring the community’s feedback and both the Mayor and City Council’s budget goals.

Under the budget action announced today, the Mayor is preserving:

• Monday hours at 16 branch libraries;
• Recreation center hours will be fully restored to their current levels;
• Beach and Balboa Park restroom service will stay at current levels; and,
• Beach fire pits will remain.

Further, the Mayor is sustaining a majority of the City Council’s new revenue proposals. However, he is adjusting the proposed revenue levels to reflect operational realities and realistic implementation timelines.

In all, the revenue for the new sources were adjusted downward by just under $3.55 million.

Per the City Charter, the City Council has five business days from the issue of the Mayor’s veto to sustain or override it. The veto memo will be issued Wednesday, giving the City Council until June 26 for consideration. Two-thirds the City Council – six of nine Councilmembers – must vote to override any veto.