The San Diego City Council approved a budget resolution Oct 30 that leaves out project requests in 92037 from City Councilmember Joe LaCava, whose District 1 includes La Jolla.
The city also released a five-year financial outlook this month covering fiscal years 2025-2029, which predicts more than $1 billion in budget deficits.
The council’s budget resolution, set for fiscal year 2024-2025, prioritizes programs such as initiatives to address homelessness, climate change, and more.
Projects were prioritized according to items “that received support from a majority (five or more) of Councilmembers in their budget priorities memoranda,” according to the report from the Office of the Independent Budget Analyst.
LaCava’s requests within La Jolla, according to a Sept 27 memo, included preparing a Scripps Park Resource Land Management Plan and Environmental Impact Report; repairing, replacing and installing stop signs and crosswalks in the La Jolla Shores beach area; conducting a comprehensive traffic circulation study of high impact beach areas and The Throat; increasing cleaning for all shoreline parks and restrooms; updating signage on beach fire regulations; and the repairing and replacing of streetlights throughout the community, among several other requests.
The five-year outlook, a document that details the $1 billion dollar-plus deficit, is used as a long-range fiscal planning guide and serves as the framework for the development of the fiscal year 2025 Adopted Budget for the General Fund, highlights “the importance of developing multi-year strategies to correct the projected structural deficits, where ongoing expenditures exceed ongoing revenues.”
The expenditures are expected to outpace incoming monies for four reasons, the outlook states: the termination of the American Rescue Plan Act, part of the COVID-19 Stimulus Package and the loss of previous excess equity; slowing growth in the revenues that increased after the height of the pandemic; increased expenditures to maintain city service levels; and negotiated salary adjustments.
Recommended mitigations for the shortfall include excess equity from fiscal year 2024; the passage of Measure C, which would increase the Transient Occupancy Tax; and a suspension of reserve fund contributions.
