Mayor presents May revision to San Diego's FY2027 budget as hundreds urge restorations for arts, youth, libraries and oppose Flock surveillance

Mayor Todd Gloria presented the May revision to the city's FY2027 draft budget at a special council meeting, saying the proposal responds to an "$118,000,000 structural budget deficit" while prioritizing core services and limited restorations. The presentation and department briefing laid out revenue updates, program restorations and remaining trade-offs as council members prepared for final budget action in June.

The May revise includes roughly $52,900,000 in citywide increases, about $13,500,000 of which affects the general fund; staff noted a $3,800,000 uptick in transient occupancy tax and roughly $4,300,000 in ongoing general-fund revenue from increased land-use payments by the golf enterprise fund. City finance officials described a $35,600,000 increase to the capital improvements program, bringing the FY27 CIP to $857,300,000, and outlined restorations that would partially protect rec center and library hours and preserve certain homelessness programs. "Avoiding those hard choices may have been politically easier in the short term, but it is not responsible governing," Mayor Gloria said in introducing the May revision.

The independent budget analyst Charles Monica summarized the package and warned that while restorations are meaningful, they do not eliminate the city's long-term structural gap or the infrastructure backlog he estimated at roughly $8 billion over five years. Monica and finance staff pointed the council to upcoming analysis and deadlines: the IBA's report and recommended budget modifications are scheduled to be released June 2, the budget review committee will meet June 5, and the council is slated to consider adoption on June 9.

After the presentation the meeting moved to an extended public-comment period: more than 200 people testified in person and online. Speakers coalesced around several consistent themes. Disability advocates pressed for funding to clear an ADA backlog they estimated at tens of millions of dollars, and Julia Cardenas, president of the San Diego chapter of the National Federation of the Blind, urged the council to approve the Accessibility Advisory Board's proposal to allocate $18,000,000 over five years to address high-priority accessible pedestrian signals and curb-ramp repairs. "For a law that was passed 36 years ago, this level of neglect is not just a budget oversight. It is a civil rights issue," Cardenas said.

A large bloc of public commenters from the arts and culture sector warned that the May revise's proposed eliminations of nearly all direct arts funding would dismantle a decades-long public investment that supports local nonprofits, jobs and tourism. Arts leaders from the Old Globe, La Jolla Playhouse, San Diego Symphony and others described the economic and social services that city grants help sustain and asked council members to restore arts funding in full. "This is not a simple reduction; this is a dismantling of a 35-year public investment," Bob Lehman of San Diego Art Matters said.

Youth advocates, parks users and community groups urged protections for restored rec center and library hours, and asked the council to authorize process changes to speed park repairs. Multiple speakers, including representatives of youth councils, asked the city to let Parks & Recreation work with a deputized engineer and to allow small repairs to be bid more quickly, including a request that the MOU permit Parks & Rec to contract for repairs costing up to $5,000,000.

Public safety and surveillance were heavily contested. Several speakers and organizations urged the council to cancel or reconsider the proposed Flock automated-license-plate-reader and camera contract and to reallocate those dollars to prevention programs. In remarks read into the record on behalf of Muslim-led organizations, Council Member Elo Rivera quoted their statement asserting that "Flock technology did not protect us and neither did the police" in the wake of last week's attack at the Islamic Center, and asked the council to prioritize investment in youth programming, mental-health supports and hate-prevention efforts rather than expanded surveillance. Several council members said they would review surveillance spending and consider reallocations as the council finalizes the budget.

Council members thanked residents for testifying and stressed the procedural next steps: the IBA's analysis next week and a budget review committee meeting before the June 9 adoption vote. Council Member Henry Foster said the revisions were a step but not final and emphasized the need to look at policing and Flock spending as part of the final deliberations. The meeting was informational; no motions or final votes were taken at this session.

What happens next: the IBA report is scheduled for June 2 and the council will discuss budget modification recommendations at the budget review committee on June 5; the council is scheduled to consider adoption of the FY2027 budget on June 9.