Community power minimizes gutting of services in the City of San Diego’s FY 2027 budget

Community power minimizes gutting of services in City of San Diego's FY 2027 Budget

The City of San Diego’s Fiscal Year 2027 budget was adopted last month and our organizing made it better than it would have been. On Tuesday June 9th, San Diego City Council brought forth a modified budget that proposed keeping libraries, parks, youth drop-in centers, among many other services and programs open for San Diegans. Hundreds of city residents attended budget hearings and shared the impact city supported programs and services have on their communities and families. On Wednesday June 10th, Mayor Todd Gloria approved the City Council’s modified budget with no changes.

Check out the chart below to see the comparison of what the City Council adopted and what Mayor Gloria proposed to cut. This is not a complete list of side by side comparisons of what is included in the budget:

Mayor's FY 2027 Proposed Budget (April 2026)

Approved Budget with Council Modifications (June 2026)

✂️ $3.4M in cuts to Library Department

✅ Restored $1.6m for libraries (mainly) in Districts 4, 8, 9 where cuts were fully restored

✂️ $4.46M in cuts to Parks and Rec.

✅ Restored $3.4m for parks (mainly) in Districts 4, 8, 9 which were fully restored. These will be funded by the revenue generated from the Golf Enterprise Fund

✂️ Eliminated the Office of Child and Youth Success

✅ $336k restored to the Office of Child and Youth Success (one FTE and a small operating budget)

✂️ $900k Reduced for Channel Maintenance, Wetland Mitigation, Storm Drain/Sidewalk Repair (among others) in the Stormwater Department, increasing risk of flooding.

✅ Restored nearly $2M t o stormwater wetland and channel maintenance, and channel clearing

✂️ Eliminated $11.8M in funding for Arts and Culture

✅ Restored $6M for Arts and Culture Funding

✅ Restored $450k for Arts, Culture, and Community Festivals

✂️ Eliminated City’s $7M contribution to the Climate Equity Fund

✂️ $5M in cuts to homelessness strategies and solutions. This includes removing 200-250 shelter beds at the 16th and Newton Shelter, and the closing of Neil Good Day Center, Central Elementary Safe parking site, and the Aero Drive Safe parking site

✅ Only 50 beds will be removed at the 16th and Newton Shelter

✅ Funded the remaining $500k promised in 2022 for Youth Drop-In Centers

✅ Restored $900k for Community Projects, Programs, Services

San Diego could not have gotten these changes if it wasn’t for the hundreds of people that waited in line during hearings, gave testimony on what our budget should prioritize, and uplifted the voices of young people, working-class families and workers.

Mayor Gloria must stop balancing the budget at the expense of working-class San Diegans. He should prioritize revenue sources that support critical public services and ensure corporations contribute to the City and pay their fair share. Hundreds of San Diegans raised concerns and alarm about the continued investment in surveillance and policing, such as the city’s $2 million contract with Flock. San Diegans urged the Mayor and City Council to cancel this contract and allocate that funding to the programs that were cut in the Mayor’s proposed budget, programs like parks and rec, arts, youth services, libraries, and climate infrastructure.

The City Council’s changes to the budget minimized the gutting of important services and programs. San Diegans organized, showed up, testified, and demanded better. This is what people power looks like. Workers, families, and community members who know what San Diego needs moved the needle this budget cycle.

But let’s be clear: partial restorations are not what’s needed to build a San Diego where everyone has what they need to thrive.

The budget process is year-round. San Diego needs you to join the movement demanding investment in communities, not criminalization.