SAN DIEGO — As the City of San Diego faces a projected $350 million deficit over the next half-decade, city leaders are looking for new ways to raise more revenue.
While these are only proposals, created by the Independent Budget Analyst, some San Diegans already have strong opinions.
One of the proposals would be to increase parking meter rates in the city of San Diego, doubling it to $2.50 an hour. That potential move could raise an estimated $9 million a year for city coffers, but may also raise some concerns among San Diegans.
"That is just crazy to me," said San Diegan Nathan Alas.
He pointed out that parking is already at a premium in neighborhoods like Hillcrest.
The idea of paying double, he said, should be a 'non-starter'.
"It's already hard to find parking here and if you have to pay even more, it's just a little bit ridiculous," he told CBS 8. "So it definitely should not be a thing."
That's just one of a number of possible "revenue opportunities" proposed by the city's Independent Budget Analyst.
Another idea which appears to be more popular would be charging out-of-towners to park at tourist hot spots like local beaches, Mission Bay Park and Balboa Park.
"I'm okay with that," said Hillcrest resident Bobby Gordon. "There are other cities that charge a tax and tourism fee, and if people want to go visit Balboa Park and enjoy the fact that they can walk around for free but they don't live here, and they have to pay a couple bucks to park, and we don't, I'm frankly okay with that as a San Diegan."
"I do like the idea that since we are already paying so many taxes, to give us back some relief while still taxing the people who are taking up the spaces that aren't from in-town," added San Diegan Gregory Alas.
At $5 a space, this would generate an estimated $5.7 million a year.
Other ideas floated are a tax on parking garages -- something Los Angeles and San Francisco already do -- which could raise about $30 million annually here, as well as extending parking meter hours and installing additional parking meters.
The Independent Budget Analyst also pointed out that it can be tricky trying to project what the city's actual budget will be so far down the road.
"It's very difficult to predict if there that there will be a huge boost or a huge decline in revenues or expenditures four years out, just because we don't know what's going to happen four years out," said Independent Budget Analyst Charles Modica.
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