In accordance with the City Charter, Mayor Todd Gloria today released the draft City of San Diego budget for Fiscal Year 2027 – a $6.4 billion proposal that directly addresses a $118 million structural deficit, while prioritizing the core services residents expect and rely on every day. 

This budget closes the deficit, prioritizes core services, and puts San Diego on stable financial footing for the future. Further, it reflects a focused and disciplined approach to managing the City’s finances in a period of economic uncertainty, with continued investment in public safety, homelessness response, and infrastructure. 

“This is a balanced, responsible budget that confronts a $118 million deficit directly,” said Mayor Todd Gloria.  "It makes the tough decisions now—including targeted reductions to staffing and support functions—to protect the services San Diegans rely on and keep the city on solid footing.”

San Diego’s $118 million deficit has been building over time driven by decades of deferred maintenance, rising costs outpacing revenue, and increasing uncertainty at both the federal and state level. Last year, the adopted budget solved roughly 85 percent of the City’s long-term structural deficit. The draft budget released today completes that work. 

Rather than delay action, this budget makes targeted, across-the-board decisions to restore balance and protect the City’s long-term financial health. 

The alternative is deeper cuts, fewer services, and less flexibility to respond in the future. 

PROTECTING WHAT MATTERS MOST 

Despite fiscal constraints, the draft budget prioritizes: 

• Public safety, maintaining fire-rescue and police operations to ensure reliable emergency response 
• Homelessness services, sustaining core programs and outreach efforts 
• Infrastructure, continuing investment in street repair, stormwater, and critical public assets 

These priorities reflect consistent input from residents, City leaders, and City departments about the services that matter most to San Diegans. 

TARGETED ADJUSTMENTS TO MAINTAIN STABILITY 

To close the deficit and restore structural balance, the draft budget includes targeted reductions across City operations. Every department contributed, and no area was exempt from review. 

Key adjustments include: 

• Reduction in the City workforce 
• Reductions to library and recreation center hours, including temporary closures associated with planned renovations 
• Scaling back certain capital and programmatic investments, including bike lane expansion, while continuing critical safety improvements at high-risk intersections 
• Pausing of arts and cultural grants in the next fiscal year 
• Hiring adjustments, including holding vacant positions and scaling back recruitment and outreach functions 

These decisions were made to minimize impacts on front-line services while preserving the City’s core operational capacity. 

LOOKING AHEAD 

If our financial position improves, we will reassess and work to restore services where we can. This budget is how we stabilize now so we can move forward with strength. 

PREPARING FOR UNCERTAINTY 

The City’s financial outlook is further complicated by ongoing uncertainty around federal and state funding for key programs, including infrastructure, housing, and community development. 

The FY 2027 draft budget positions San Diego to manage that uncertainty from a place of fiscal stability. 

“State and federal funding for infrastructure, housing, and homelessness is not guaranteed. The world’s broader economic conditions remain chaotic and unpredictable,” said Mayor Todd Gloria. “If these factors continue or worsen, additional reductions may be necessary. That is the reality we find ourselves in and it is the one we are preparing for with this proposal.”  

A FOUNDATION FOR LONG-TERM STABILITY 

The FY 2027 draft budget is designed to restore structural balance, avoid a series of one-time fixes, and create a sustainable path forward for City finances. 

“This is a balanced budget. It is based on real numbers and sound projections,” Mayor Gloria said. “We will work through this process with the City Council as full partners, and by June 9, we will adopt a budget that is balanced, responsible, and on time.” 

Mayor Gloria will present the draft budget to the City Council in a public hearing on April 20, 2026. The City Council, serving as the Budget Review Committee, will hold a series of hearings from May 4 through 8. Based on updated economic data, the Mayor will release a revised, final budget proposal on May 13. 

For more information on the draft Fiscal Year 2027 Budget, please visit https://www.sandiego.gov/finance/draft. 

What Leaders and Partners Are Saying 

"The Mayor’s proposed budget is the first step in a process that culminates on June 9,” said City Council President Joe LaCava. “San Diegans have sent a clear message: Raising revenues to fill the gap is not an option. We must deliver a balanced budget with the limited resources we have and put our city on firmer financial footing.” 

“SDPD is operating more efficiently with taxpayer dollars than ever before, as shown by our efforts to decrease overtime spending throughout this fiscal year,” said San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl. “As the City approaches another difficult budget year, the department approached the discussion by taking a thoughtful look at how we can consolidate resources without sacrificing service levels. We are grateful to Mayor Gloria for working with us throughout this process to ensure our police operations remain effective.” 

“This year’s budget requires difficult but necessary decisions,” said San Diego Fire-Rescue Chief Robert Logan II. “We remain committed to working closely with the Mayor’s administration and our labor partners to ensure the final budget supports the resources needed to continue delivering critical services to the communities we are honored to serve and the personnel who make that service possible.” 

“While there are painful personnel cuts in this proposed budget, it is a responsible budget that makes meaningful progress toward closing the City’s structural deficit, which is in everyone’s interest,” said Mike Zucchet, general manager of the Municipal Employees Association. “We appreciate the Mayor for his leadership, engagement, and honesty with our members about the constraints the City is facing.  This budget reflects that and shares the pain across many important priorities. What matters now is that the City follows through on its commitment to right-size the City’s budget and keeps the conversation going as this process moves forward.”  

“Mayor Gloria engaged this process seriously and made decisions that reflect a genuine understanding of what fiscal instability costs working families. A city that cannot manage its finances responsibly cannot deliver for workers or residents,” said Brigette Browning, president of the San Diego & Imperial Counties Labor Council. “We’ll continue to hold the Mayor and Council accountable as this budget moves through the working process — but tackling the deficit responsibly, while ensuring the stability and security our workers depend on, is the best approach to deliver the services working families rely on.”  

“San Diego’s construction and tradespeople depend on a city that invests in its infrastructure over the long term. This budget invests another $821 million in our critical infrastructure,” said Carol Kim, business manager for the San Diego County Building and Construction Trades Council. “Fiscal stability and good union jobs aren’t in conflict — they depend on each other. We thank Mayor Gloria for his commitment and look forward to engaging with the City throughout the budget process to ensure the needs of working people and their communities are met.”  

“Our members work in every corner of this city — on streets, in trenches, in facilities that San Diegans use every day. When the City’s finances are unstable, our members feel it first. This budget makes difficult but necessary decisions to put San Diego on sounder footing. We’ll be at the table through every step of this process to make sure the people doing the work are treated fairly” said Val Macedo, business manager / secretary treasurer of LiUNA Local 89.  

“In tough times, budgets are never going to be easy, but AFSCME Local 127 applauds Mayor Gloria for his commitment to protecting the ‘boots on the ground’ positions that provide the vital services San Diego’s residents and businesses rely on every day,” said Tim Douglass, president of AFSCME Local 127. “Even while navigating a $118 million structural deficit, this budget tries to prioritize the dedicated workforce that keeps our city’s most critical services running for our communities. We appreciate the Mayor’s hard work in seeking in his balanced budget with the fiscal responsibility of the essential needs to support the frontline employees who are the backbone of our city.”