Written by Amanda Angulo
According to the San Diego County Taxpayers Association, Mayor Todd Gloria’s budget for the City of San Diego 2022 is flawed. President and CEO of the San Diego County Taxpayers Association, Haney Hong, released a statement on Monday over the budget hearings. “There are a number of issues that need to be explored by the City Council through the budget hearings” Hong claimed.
The first issue that they brought to attention was the fact that the mayor’s projections were too hopeful. Estimating numbers without fully explaining how, nor introducing the plan does not equal a reliable solution. This was specifically seen in the claims made by Gloria’s office that the budget will close the structural deficit.
In addition, the Taxpayers Association also suggests that City Council should begin to demonstrate the initiative they have been talking about when it comes to the public purse and get involved in Todd Gloria’s budget for 2022.
Unfortunately, due to the majority of City Council seats being held by Democrats, there will more than likely be no watchdog over Gloria’s budget.
Other issues that the Association highlighted were the inequities that will be caused by SB 1383, signed off by Gov. Newsom. They point out that the new environmental objective and People’s Ordinance plan, with $6.5 million, is unfair as it is only free to single-family households. They also suggest funding a consultant for this budget proposal.
Hong also states that it is unnecessary to waive the requirements for Prop. H from June 2016 which requires spending on infrastructure. He further explains, “The city staff are exploring the development of a new tax or fee to tackle stormwater requirements, yet this budget waives the required capital infrastructure investment when… that stormwater infrastructure is the biggest liability on the balance sheet”.
Lastly, Hong suggests a true solution for the budget of 2022. By spending $22 million on stormwater infrastructure rather than public employee pay raises during COVID-19, there will be an actual path to address the structural deficit.
Photo Via Kevin Sanders/California Globe
