In the four years I have spent living in San Diego, some of my best memories here have come from exploring the arts in the city. From the diverse museums in Balboa Park to performance venues such as the Rady Shell, the city of San Diego embraces art and culture in many ways. These facilities have been a means for San Diegans, including myself, to enjoy and connect with a creative community.
A part of what made this cultural prosperity possible was the economic support from our city government. However, Mayor Todd Gloria’s revised FY2027 draft budget released on May 13 proposed an elimination of a $11.8 million grant for the City of San Diego Arts and Culture Commission, an 85% reduction from the FY2026 budget. Additionally, San Diego’s public libraries will experience a $2.5 million cut under this proposal. While labeled as fiscally responsible choices, cutting the funds for creative and cultural services endangers the local economy in the long run, and it will damage the community that we, as San Diegans, value and cherish.
The city faced a gaping $118 million deficit in the fiscal budget. Irresponsible budgeting, inflation combined with cuts in federal aid, lack of sales growth, and sagging property taxes revenue contributed to this gap. The proposed 2027 budget, in Mayor Gloria’s words, “is a balanced, responsible budget that confronts the deficit directly.”
According to Norm Miller, an economist from the University of San Diego, the city has been adding around 900 employees each year in the city council, resulting in about $133 million spent on personnel expenditures. In comparison to the bloated bureaucracy, the city’s population has remained stagnant in the past six years. Although the city’s trajectory of cutting spending instead of raising taxes seems promising, the budget plan fails to address the main issue and cause of the budget deficit.
If anything, the proposed budget will harm our local economy even further. The City of San Diego’s Arts and Economic Prosperity 5 reported that the nonprofit arts and cultural sector generated $1.1 billion in total economic activity, supported 35,914 full-time equivalent jobs, and delivered $116 million in local and state government revenue in 2025. Cutting the fund in the Arts and Culture Commission will likely result in diminished economic activity, further amplifying the budget deficit due to the lack of revenue. Limited activities in the arts can also consequently cause a decrease in tourism, hotel taxes, and more.
Even if the drafted budget doesn’t cause significant damage to the economy at first, it will diminish the educational opportunities and limit the potential of our youth. The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that the San Diego Youth Symphony stands to lose $142,080 in city funding. Youth arts programs such as San Diego Junior Theatre, San Diego Youth Symphony, and San Diego Civic Youth Ballet educate more than 6,500 students annually and welcome nearly 50,000 audience members. They branch out to every district to provide arts education for youth. For many young people, creative outlets in the arts are beneficial for their well-being, as well as creating opportunities for the youth to explore their passion.
The San Diego public libraries also host community programs and events to provide affordable and accessible education all across the city. Accessibility programs, homeschool resource centers, and literacy programs are just a few ways the libraries bring educational opportunities to our communities. The support given by these organizations are essential to our city’s cultural growth.
As a young musician myself, I have been inspired by San Diego’s rich culture in the arts. Whether I was attending a library reading, watching a ballet performance at the Jacob’s Music Center, or visiting an exhibition at an art gallery, I have always appreciated the vibrant culture of this city.
The arts and culture are the factors that make a community special and valuable. Ignoring their economic and cultural impact can be a crucial error that worsens the state of our city. If we want San Diego to be a city we can believe in, arts and culture cannot be the first thing we give up on.
