SD Taxpayers

San Diego's oldest and most respected government watchdog and taxpayer advocacy group

[SD Taxpayers @sdcta]

Nominations for the SD Taxpayers 30th Annual Golden Globe Awards are open.

Here are some possible nominees for the Golden Fleece Awards:

The city of #SanDiego for missing naming rights due to an overly bureaucratic approval process.
https://t.co/eqYC0i3BP0

The city of San Diego for mismanaging the streetlight repair program.
https://t.co/Y2cpJ2gH8O

The mayor and council for delaying contributions to the Infrastructure Fund to fund much need street and storm drain maintenance (despite a large and growing infrastructure funding gap) until 2032.
https://t.co/VdrNpO0l4p

The nomination form is online.
https://t.co/ksoBZ1LOB0

[SD Taxpayers @sdcta]

The city of #SanDiego may have missed opportunities to generate revenue from naming rights with an overly bureaucratic approval process.

"It took the city more than five years to complete a deal for downtown wayfinding kiosks supported by advertising, costing the city millions in revenue during the delay."

https://t.co/T9JiMmHShr

[SD Taxpayers @sdcta]

The city of #SanDiego may have missed opportunities to generate revenue from naming rights with an overly bureaucratic approval process.

"It took the city more than five years to complete a deal for downtown wayfinding kiosks supported by advertising, costing the city millions in revenue during the delay."

https://t.co/T9JiMmHShr

[SD Taxpayers @sdcta]

Another finding of the city of #SanDiego streetlight audit:

"Despite increased Program resources, repair times and the repair backlog grew."

https://t.co/bti7Q1YPHX

[SD Taxpayers @sdcta]

The Performance Audit of the Streetlight Repair Program will be presented to the city of SanDiego's Audit Committee at its November 12 meeting.

A key finding of the audit: "The Streetlight repair backlog and repair times grew while Program staffing resources increased."

The city is spending more money repairing streetlights, with less results.

https://t.co/pnOhnZU1VU

[SD Taxpayers @sdcta]

The city council will hear the mayor's proposed response to the #SanDiego County Grand Jury Report 'Playing with Fire: The High Stakes of Low Inspection Completion'.

The report found that the SDFD is not completing all state-mandated fire inspections resulting in an increased risk of loss of life and property in the event of a fire.

https://t.co/PpjPg4n2Rk

[SD Taxpayers @sdcta]

A major tax or fee increase is in the cards for the city of #SanDiego.

While next year's operating budget is nominally balanced (if you exclude minor considerations like a sufficient level of reserves) funding to maintain the city's rapidly deteriorating streets and storm drains is absent.

"Chief Operating Officer Bethany Bezak says that projection still leaves out the vast majority of the city’s massive infrastructure backlog.

"'With a nearly $8 billion need to repair city infrastructure, there's no belt-tightening that we can use to close the gap — and we need a sustainable dedicated source of funding,' she said."

https://t.co/ToITke9IC7

[SD Taxpayers @sdcta]

San Diego's operating budget may be on 'sounder' financial footing compared to the prior year, but is by no means 'sound'.

"The city’s projected to have about $207 million in reserves for fiscal year 2028 — far below what’s required by its own policies.

"(SD Taxpayer President) Kersey said that could be an issue if, for example, a downturn with the stock market put the city’s pension program on shakier ground. Or if this season’s 'Super El Niño' inundates San Diego with heavy rain and flooding. Forecasters say it could end up being the strongest on record.

"'The reserves are a literal rainy day fund, right? And if you believe the weather forecast, we're about to have a lot of those rainy days and they're about to be pretty severe,' he said.

"In 2024, a massive storm flooded San Diego, displacing more than 1,200 households and causing more than $31 million in damage to public infrastructure, inewsource reported. This year, the city approved a $6.3 million settlement to insurance companies tied to the 2024 flooding.

"'The problem is that when you're doing repairs on an emergency basis, they become quite a bit more expensive than if you're just doing them planned out months or years in advance. And that's what we saw back in 2024,' Kersey said. 'To say nothing of the litigation that they had to settle… because of these faulty storm drains and channels.'"

https://t.co/ToITke9IC7

[SD Taxpayers @sdcta]

The 'Performance Audit of Brush Management on Private Property' will be presented to the city of #SanDiego Audit committee on November 12.

The audit has "found that limited oversight and accountability, lack of follow-through and enforcement, and minimal public reporting have limited the program’s effectiveness at reducing wildfire risk."

https://t.co/pnOhnZU1VU

[SD Taxpayers @sdcta]

The Environment Committee will vote on a 'Resolution Supporting Affordability, Local Accountability, and Workforce Protection in Evaluating Public Power for the City of #SanDiego' at its November 12 meeting.

If approved, the resolution would advance the city's effort to 'continue to take foundational steps for a not-for profit public electric distribution utility.'

Given that the city has been unable to maintain the street and storm drain infrastructure it is already responsible for and routinely imposes large water and sewer utility rate hikes, efforts to municipalize the power utility have been met with a degree of skepticism.

https://t.co/hkfeUmK4l2

[SD Taxpayers @sdcta]

Although the proposed #Santee sales tax increase failed at the ballot, the city's sales tax rate will still increase from 7.75% to 8.25% following the approval of Measure B, a county wide tax hike.

https://t.co/AzOuTNMOa8

[SD Taxpayers @sdcta]

SD Taxpayers opposes ballot box budgeting, defined as a measure that limits a government's ability to set budgeting priorities by tying their hands and permanently earmarking funds for a specific purpose.

The #SanDiego county supervisors may learn why.

One of the goals of Measure B (a half-cent sales tax hike that earmarks up to 60% of the additional revenue on providing affordable healthcare, nutrition, and family services) was to allow the county to offset federal funding cuts.

Now it seems likely that the federal cuts may themselves be reversed.

In addition, Mark Kersey, president of SD Taxpayers has noted that "If you start raising money out of San Diego's pockets to pay for something that is fundamentally a Mexico-U.S. federal government problem, then all of a sudden Washington could look at this and say, ‘Well, hey, we don't need to invest any more money into San Diego because they pass this, over the life of it, multibillion-dollar tax measure.'"

[Marc Joffe @marcjoffe]

NYT reports that Congressional Democrats will likely cancel the Republican Medicaid cuts. Before California adds any more health taxes to offset HR1 cuts, we should see how this turns out.

[SD Taxpayers @sdcta]

The mayor may want to scale back any congratulatory city of #SanDiego related budget pronouncements.

1. There is a expecting a small FY 2028 surplus, but the spending projections are based on the city's decision to underfund reserves. This is questionable in most years, and indefensible during an El Nino year.

2. The operating budget surplus becomes a deficit starting in FY 2029, has personnel costs push up spending.

3. Optimistic revenue projects and a reduced pension contributions are based directly and indirectly on the assumption of continued stock market gains.

4. The new budget does nothing to reverse the city's chronic underfunding of the city employee pension funds.

5. There is no effort to increase the spending on road and storm drains to close the large and growing infrastructure funding gap.

[San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria @MayorToddGloria]

What does the five-year outlook mean for San Diegans? A more sustainable City budget. For the first time in 20 years of forecasts, our next budget year is projected to be balanced without one-time fixes or another round of cuts. #ForAllofUs

[SD Taxpayers @sdcta]

Despite the recently introduced recall petition, the city of #SanDiego's policy and budget failures are very much a team effort.

https://t.co/xKsKyfbGcy

It should also be noted that the both the mayor and council need to improve the city's spotty record of proving information to residents.

"As local activist Paul Krueger wrote in a U-T Opinion commentary a year ago, the city has 'a two-tiered caste system of information sharing.' Those who support city development policies find staffers to be cooperative and attentive. But not those who want to get to key details being kept from the public."

[Paul Krueger @paulkruegersd]

Another wise and forceful @sdutOpinion editorial, challenging our new @SDCityCouncil members to support good governance, not special interests:

[SD Taxpayers @sdcta]

The declaration that the city of #SanDiego's city finances have stabilized is misleading at best.

1. While there is a slight operating budget surplus in FY 2028, deficits totaling $71.6 million are projected in the subsequent four years.

2. The city does not plan to replenish dangerously low reserve levels.

3. There is no funding to address the large ($6.8 billion and growing) infrastructure funding gap.

4. A declining pension payment based on assumed continued stock market growth.

5. The pension deficit remains high ($3.46 billion).

The city may have avoided the need for budget cuts or revenue increases in the next budget cycle, but the long-term financial outlook continues to get worse.

https://t.co/rN5UPlTgwd

[SD Taxpayers @sdcta]

The city of #SanDiego has released its Fiscal Year 2028-2032 Five-Year Financial Outlook.

While as slight surplus of $5.1 million is projected for Fiscal Year 2028, growing deficits are expected in the subsequent four years:

FY 2029 $5.0 million
FY 2030 $8.8 million
FY 2031 $21.6 million
FY 2032 $36.2 million

Despite a $6.8 billion infrastructure funding gap, no contribution to the Infrastructure Fund is projected until FY 2032.

https://t.co/u3dRY02iyq

[SD Taxpayers @sdcta]

Question: Is it politically possible to change California’s condo defect laws?

Mark Kersey, San Diego County Taxpayers Association

"YES: Construction defect litigation reform can pass in Sacramento, but only if state legislators put the needs of their constituents ahead of the special interests who fund their campaigns. Defect litigation is a real impediment to condo construction, and condos fill an important need in the market for both young families and empty nesters. Reform can happen — it just needs 'people over politics' to be something more than a campaign slogan."