More money for police, fewer library hours: Mayor Gloria releases proposed budget

More money for police, fewer library hours: Mayor Gloria releases proposed budget

San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria delivers 2025 State of the City Address at City Hall. (Photo by Tessa Balc/Times of San Diego) The office of San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria has released a draft budget for the upcoming fiscal year amid regional and national uncertainty. The budget, which can be viewed here, is characterized as a “starting point” based on the best available economic data available at the time. A final proposal will be released in May. The…

Midway Shelter Caught in City, County Funding Dispute

A long-simmering city and county battle over their respective roles addressing the region’s homelessness and behavioral health crises just got hotter. At the center of the latest battle: the future of a 150-bed Alpha Project shelter serving homeless San Diegans with behavioral health conditions outside the county’s Midway District health complex that could now be forced to close. As first reported by the Union-Tribune, Mayor Todd Gloria opted ag…

City of San Diego's preliminary budget proposes cuts to arts funding, library hours and more

SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) -- On Tuesday, San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria proposed a slew of cuts in the city's preliminary budget, including reduced hours of operation at libraries and recreation centers in addition to slashes to arts funding, the Humane Society and others. The city of San Diego faces a $258 million budget deficit, and the proposed actions are intended to bring that gap to a close, according to Gloria. A total of $175.9 million in redu…

San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria wants to close all city library branches every Sunday and Monday, reduce recreation center hours by more than 30%, and eliminate the city's 184 beach fire pits. The mayor also proposes a 10% cut to arts funding, paying millions less to the Humane Society for animal surveillance, and eliminating firefighter first-response teams downtown and near Safari Park. Gloria announced these proposed cuts and several others Tuesd…

City asking for public input on distribution of federal funds

The City of San Diego is asking for input as it decides how to administer an estimated $44 million in federal grants to improve living environments, expand economic opportunity, and increase housing opportunities in low- and moderate-income communities. This month, the City released the draft Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 Annual Action Plan, which proposes how to distribute this year’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), HOME Investment Partnershi…

Local libraries at risk following state proposed budget cuts

Mike Penrod remembers one library patron who visited the library every day for six months during a recession.  Penrod, the Wood County District Public Library director, said she spent six months applying for jobs using the library’s computers, eating lunch with employees and getting help from librarians. Now,  Penrod is worried that the resources that the libraries have offered communities for years won’t be as readily available if Ohio’s new pr…