Protecting Your Wallet From More Government Waste

Media
7 days ago
2 min read

For years, I’ve fought to keep San Diego County financially strong and prepared for emergencies. Thanks to responsible leadership, we’ve maintained a reserve fund to protect families when disaster strikes—whether it’s wildfires, floods, or economic downturns.

Meanwhile, the City of San Diego is drowning in a $258 million deficit. The State of California? A staggering $68 billion in the red.

And who ends up paying for their failure? You.

Just last year, San Diego County had to step in and help the City of San Diego during devastating floods—because the City didn’t maintain its infrastructure or its budget.

Now, some want to take San Diego County down the same dangerous path.

At our last Board of Supervisors meeting, two of my colleagues (Terra Lawson-Remer & Monica Montgomery-Steppe) pushed a reckless proposal to raid the County’s emergency reserves—unlocking nearly $380 million to fund more bloated government spending. This, despite the County projecting a $138 million deficit coming into the next fiscal year, projected to balloon to $321 million in just five years. The County is working to cut the gap between anticipated services and needs and what it will provide in next year's budget. This comes at the cost of capital projects that keep the County moving forward and thriving.

Rather than cutting wasteful spending, they’re eyeing your wallet next. They’ve already started talking about raising taxes to fill the growing budget hole.

We all know California is already too expensive. The last thing families and seniors need is higher taxes and more financial mismanagement.

Thankfully, we were able to stop this irresponsible proposal—for now. But make no mistake: this fight isn’t over.

If we allow them to drain our reserves, we’ll end up just like the City of San Diego or the State of California: broke and unable to respond when real emergencies hit.

I’ll keep fighting to protect taxpayers, hold the line on spending, and keep San Diego County financially secure. We can’t afford to let government waste push the cost of living even higher.

Thank you for your support.

by San Diego County District 5 Supervisor Jim Desmond | May 13, 2025

EDITOR'S NOTE: Remember these names and faces! These two County Supervisors want to raid the County's emergency reserves.