The San Diego City Council could call for new budget cuts as soon as this week. The mayor’s office is projecting a $110 million deficit for the next fiscal year, which would be on top of the $300 million shortfall in this year’s budget. Library hours? Park Rec centers? Layoffs? More paid parking? Surplus land sales? For now, nobody knows what will end up on the chopping block. The council’s updated budget priorities are due to the Office of Independent Budget Analysis by Friday. The news comes as San Diegans began to pay for parking in Balboa Park and shell out to get their trash collected. In a memo issued last month, San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria told city department heads to rein in spending, suggesting they do so by cutting nonessential overtime and reviewing contracts that could be cut or renegotiated. The council suggested certain changes in the past to make up the difference, such as staffing cuts, but those have yet to be implemented. In December, NBC 7 asked the mayor’s office if Gloria planned on making those staffing cuts. “… as the city’s chief executive, the mayor is responsible for deciding how positions are filled and how departments are staffed so the city can continue delivering core services,” a spokesperson said in a statement. “That’s exactly what he is doing now: managing to the adopted budget while making sure residents continue to receive the services they rely on. Donna Frye, a onetime San Diego City Council member, businesswoman and environmental activist, has been urging residents this week to contact the city council to urge members to not implement paid parking at the beaches and Mission Bay, highlighting that four council members pointed to the waterfront parking as potential revenue sources. “As we head into the new year, it’s time once again to let the city council know that we oppose paid parking at our beaches and Mission Bay Park for residents and non-residents alike,” Frye wrote in the OB Rag. Gloria warned that a fiscal day like the one looming this week was coming after the city council voted 6-3 back in June to override several of his line-item vetoes and passed a $6 billion 2025-26 municipal budget. Following Gloria’s veto, the city’s communications office several times posted opposition to the council’s decision to partially restore some services based on projected revenue sources such as Balboa Park parking fees and digital billboard advertising. Original estimates for parking revenue from the city’s crown jewel were in the $12 million range but have since been revised down to between $3 million and $4 million. For his part, Councilman Sean Elo-Rivera said in June that “Austerity is the wrong choice. Abundance is in our future.” Afterward, Gloria responded. “If their assumptions don’t hold, they’ll be responsible for the fallout: midyear cuts, layoffs, facility closures, brownouts and broken promises to the communities we all serve.” January’s brewing budget battle is set against the possibility of another ballot measure seeking an increase in sales tax, which could offer a longer-term respite for the structural deficit. The last time such a proposal was floated to voters, however, they turned it down. ...read more read less