San Diego County officials are mulling their options as they face federal cuts.
Among them is a tax increase.
Democrats on the County Board of Supervisors are considering whether a tax increase could help shield residents from worst-case scenarios and help the county avoid budget challenges, some of which aren’t tied to federal cuts. They’re also assessing the impact of those federal cuts to programs like Medicaid and CalFresh and preparing to look at other non-tax options to increase revenue.
Their tactic to do all this: two new subcommittees led by Board Chair Terra Lawson-Remer and Vice Chair Monica Montgomery Steppe.
Voice intern Jenna Ramiscal and reporter Lisa Halverstadt report that the two supervisors will work behind the scenes with county staff and outside consultants to explore their options, including a potential push for a tax hike.
Not everyone is thrilled with their playbook. Republican Supervisor Jim Desmond has criticized the subcommittees, arguing that the Democratic supervisors are setting the stage for a tax hike at a time San Diegans are being hit with other surging bills.
Judge Set to Throw Out City’s Suit to Stop La Jolla Independence Push
A Superior Court judge has tentatively ruled the city of San Diego’s lawsuit trying to stop the Local Agency Formation Commission, or LAFCO, violated the state’s anti-SLAPP laws and should be thrown out. The site lajolla.ca was first with the news.
The ruling is here.
Background: The Association for the City of La Jolla submitted signatures to start the process to make La Jolla its own city. If they got enough signatures, it would trigger LAFCO to commission an analysis of what the financial impact of such a split would be and how much alimony La Jollans would have to pay.
LAFCO contracted with the county Registrar of Voters to validate the signatures. The registrar did that and reported that they didn’t get enough signatures. But then LAFCO Executive Officer Keene Simonds determined the registrar invalidated many of the signatures for simple misspellings or for using common abbreviations that didn’t exactly fit the registrar’s assumptions. He decided there was enough signatures after reviewing many of the ones thrown out.
The city sued arguing Simonds had no right to do that and the registrar’s count should stand. The city named the Association for the City of La Jolla as a party of interest.
In the meantime, the registrar quietly updated its guidance after a separate Court of Appeal ruling that it had been way too stringent on simple misspellings or common address abbreviations.
The Association filed an anti-SLAPP motion arguing the city was trying to impede its rights to participate in public process. The judge appears to agree.
“Substantial evidence indicates Simonds did not act arbitrarily when he exercised his authority to determine the ROV improperly rejected signatures due to minor mis-spellings and/or non-standard abbreviations …” reads the tentative ruling from Judge Judy S. Bae.
South County Report: Auditors Give Failing Grade to Chula Vista School District
People stand outside of the Chula Vista Elementary School District board meeting on Feb. 19, 2025, in Chula Vista. / Photo by Ariana Drehsler
State auditors recently took a deep dive into the Chula Vista Elementary School District business, personnel and budget operations and found lots of room for improvement.
In his latest South County Report, our Jim Hinch reports that auditors uncovered a disorganized budget process, weak controls over payroll and hiring and failures to properly track key staff information. The district requested the audit as it dealt with an ongoing budget deficit and significant turnover among top leaders.
Also in the South Bay news roundup: Sweetwater Authority is alleging that the San Diego County Sanitation District allowed more than 11,000 gallons of raw sewage to flow into one of its main water sources and Lincoln Acres now has its own planning group.
National City’s Housing Goals
National City is behind on meeting its housing goals, as KPBS reported.
State officials require cities to facilitate the production of a certain number of homes at different income levels every eight years.
National City is on track to meet its goal in one of those categories — homes for people with income defined as “low” — but on the whole the city is far off track.
As we reported back in August, National City is among five cities in the county furthest away from hitting its target.
Most mayors across the county say their goal is unreachable. But Mayor Ron Morrison of National City may have the most credible argument in that regard. His city is already the most densely populated in the county and was assigned more homes to produce per capita than any other city.
Read Voice’s story on the city’s furthest away from hitting their goals here. See our entire housing series here.
In Other News
Op-ed: Marco Gonzalez of the Coastal Environmental Rights Foundation argues that the city should stick to its Pure Water program to ensure water independence, pushing back against another op-ed by a San Diego County Water Authority representative who criticized the initiative.
News we’ll be watching: CBS 8 reports that a Superior Court judge has agreed to release video footage of an Encinitas councilmember’s clash over a parking spot in Encinitas. Our Tigist Layne has covered the felony assault allegations and a resulting criminal charge for Councilmember Luke Shaffer.
The Union-Tribune reports that about 400,000 San Diego County residents who rely on CalFresh food stamps are for now expected not to receive next month’s benefits due to the federal government shutdown.
NBC 7 reports that the city and the county are set to receive $32.4 million in state Homekey+ funds to convert a vacation rental property into an 80-unit affordable housing complex.
Times of San Diego reports that San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance has a new permanent leader.The Union-Tribune checked in with local small business owners grappling with tariffs.
The Morning Report was written by Lisa Halverstadt and Will Huntsberry. It was edited by Andrea Sanchez-Villafaña.