It appears that San Diego does not have enough money to meet its infrastructure needs, as its funding gap for infrastructure projects has reached $5.17 billion, which is a 20% spike compared to $4.32 billion last winter.
According to the infrastructure gap analysis released by the city, the increase is said to be fueled by new state regulations, rising labor and prices of construction materials. It has also been noted that if the city authorities hadn’t removed some building improvements from the analysis, the budget shortfall would be substantially greater.
Further detailing on the issue that San Diego is facing, La Jolla Light reported:
City officials say San Diego faces a more severe infrastructure problem than many other cities because its largest population boom was in the 1950s and ‘60s — meaning much of the infrastructure built during that boom is nearing the end of its life span.
The city’s infrastructure funding gap has continued to grow despite steady increases in the money San Diego gets for projects, which includes fees from developers, state gas tax money and two dozen other sources.
Since 2019, projected city funding for projects has climbed from $3.76 billion to $4.58 billion. But the projected cost for needed projects has climbed even more steeply, from $5.62 billion to $9.75 billion.
City officials say a key factor in those rising cost projections is that San Diego is the only city in the region that has assessed all its infrastructure in the past decade. It also is the only city to estimate its infrastructure funding gap every winter — a practice that began eight years ago.
While the funding gap is daunting, city officials say they’d rather know where they stand than remain in the dark and kick the can down the road to future city leaders.
