Filner to Propose $2.75B Budget

Mayor Bob Filner's proposed $2.75 billion budget for the city of San Diego in the upcoming fiscal year is scheduled to be presented to the City Council on Tuesday.

The overall budget is 0.1 percent smaller than for the current fiscal year, which ends June 30.

The $1.2 billion general fund, which pays for basic services like public safety and recreation centers, is set to increase 3.1 percent.

The mayor's proposal would add the equivalent of 38 jobs and largely avoids spending cuts.

One controversial exception is a $1.4 million reduction in the budget for the mayor's political rival, City Attorney Jan Goldsmith. The cut equates to 13 full-time positions.

At a news conference on Monday, Filner told reporters that the City Attorney's Office had grown in size while other departments were shrunk in recent years. He also said Goldsmith agreed to the cuts as long as he wasn't specifically ordered where to make the reductions.

Late Monday, the City Attorney's Office released a statement that said the mayor identified the employees to be laid-off by name, including Andrew Jones, the No. 2 man in the department.

City Council President Todd Gloria said the mayor's proposed spending cut Goldsmith's office was "curious" and "unlikely to be implemented as proposed."

The city's Independent Budget Analyst is set to comb through the spending plan and release its findings by the end of this month. A department- by-department review by the council's Budget Committee is scheduled for the week of May 6-10.

A vote on adoption by the City Council could be taken on June 10.

-City News Service