SAN DIEGO, Calif. (KGTV) — Mayor Todd Gloria said The City of San Diego has a major budget deficit.
Gloria made this announcement along with other city leaders at a press conference Wednesday morning, addressing the deficit.
Gloria said the City now expects to have an estimated $258M deficit next year.
City leaders were banking on Measure E passing in November, which would have increased the sales tax and generated an estimated $400M dollars.
The vote failed by 35-hundred votes.
City leaders now say every possible solution to a budget gap while keeping city services reasonably priced is on the table for discussion this next year.
“Everything is on the table and we have to carefully consider what the balance is," Council President Pro Tem Joe Cava said.
One of those many ideas is to raise parking fees.
Stephen Stewart, a sales representative for a downtown liquor distributor, opposes raising parking fees and voted 'No' against Measure E.
Because of his job, Stewart uses multiple parking meter spaces daily. It costs him "around 11-13 dollars a day," which is around $65 a workweek.
"We already pay enough in taxes," Stewart said. "It would negatively affect me with the cost of everything that's already gone up. that's just another thing to hit my budget."
The revenue generated from parking meters is typically spent on infrastructure repairs, such as roads, sidewalks, and streetlights.
Mayor Todd Gloria said Wednesday, "If we can take those revenues and invest them into our transportation department, or neighborhoods that have meters where we’re doing more road repair and light repairs, that would be one way to offset or mitigate potential reductions in necessary neighborhood service levels.”
Parking is just one idea.
Gloria announced a hiring freeze on non-essential positions, suspending non-essential overtime, looking for opportunities to make money off places like Golden Hall, delaying the Civic Center Revitalization process, and more.
Gloria said infrastructure, homelessness, housing, and safety are still his top priorities.
"These priorities will not be changing," Gloria said.
