San Diego City budget adds shelter beds, reduces some services
By Gary Warth
June 17, 2026
The city of San Diego’s adopted budget for Fiscal Year 2027 will increase the number of beds at homeless shelters but also comes with some cuts to services.
“We’ve seen unsheltered homelessness decline for two consecutive years, and investments in shelter, services, and housing are helping drive that progress,” Mayor Todd Gloria said in a press release from the city.
“Reducing homelessness requires strong partnerships and sustained commitment,” Gloria said. “We will continue working alongside our community partners to help more people move from homelessness to housing and build on the progress we’ve made.”
The $2.17 billion budget adopted this month will add just over 200 beds to shelters, bringing the total to 2,700, but also calls for reductions of beds at some shelters and the closure of the Neil Good Day Center by the end of the year.
The budget includes $32.6 million in revised revenue for homelessness services as a result of the Transient Occupancy Tax rate increases associated with Measure C.
Voters approved Measure C in 2020 to fund homeless services, street repairs and Convention Center improvements, but it did not go into effect until this year because of legal challenges.
As part of the budget, the Rachel’s Promise Center for Women and Children will be expanded by 160 beds and another 60 beds for families will be added in partnership with the Salvation Army.
The city will use opioid settlement funds to support another 72 beds that will open for single adults in a location that has not yet been determined.
The additions will be partially offset by a reduction of 50 beds for women at the Alpha Project’s shelter at 16th Street and Newton Avenue. The city also will end a 37-bed partnership with the San Diego Rescue Mission in National City, representing a net-addition of just over 200 shelter beds compared to last year.
In all, the city will fund about 1,680 traditional shelter beds across 17 different programs, 760 tent spaces at the Safe Sleeping Program and 350 spaces at safe parking lots.
The budget also funds more than 40 outreach workers throughout the city and will continue existing prevention and diversion programs that include the Eviction Prevention Program (EPP) and the Housing Instability Prevention Program (HIPP).
The Family Reunification Program also remains funded, as does The Hub, a program at the Central Library to connect people to available services and shelter.
Two storage sites where homeless people can safely store personal belongings also remain funded.
The Neil Good Day Center, which has connected homeless people to services and given them a safe place to stay in East Village during the day, will close after 35 years because of budget cuts.
According to the city’s press release, the city and San Diego Housing Commission have been working with Father Joe’s Villages to explore plans to continue critical services such as restrooms, mail services, and case management through a relocated and downsized operation at its main campus down the street.
The city has earmarked up to $237,000 in Fiscal Year 2027 to support the wind-down of the program.
The adopted budget also closes under-utilized safe parking lots at Aero Drive and the former Central Elementary School, but the program will continue at four other locations.
Homeless programs funded in the new budget:
Alcohol Use Disorder Shelter – 56 beds for adults;
Alpha Project 16th & Newton Shelter – 276 beds for adults;
Alpha Project 17th & Imperial Shelter – 140 beds for adults;
Barrio Logan Family Shelter – 168 beds for families;
Casa Mariposa – 164 beds for domestic violence survivors;
Community Harm Reduction Safe Haven – 22 beds for adults;
Community Harm Reduction Shelter – 44 beds for adults;
Father Joe’s Joan Kroc Center – 28 beds for women;
PATH Connections – 70 beds for adults;
Point Loma Shelter – 130 beds for men, women and seniors;
Rachel’s Promise Center – 210 beds for women and children;
Safe Shelter for Transition Age Youth – 43 beds for young adults;
Salvation Army Interim Family Shelter – 93 beds for families;
Salvation Army Door of Hope – 60 beds for families;
San Diego Youth Services – 15 beds for youths;
Urban Street Angels Youth Shelter – 52 beds for young adults;
Veterans Village Interim Shelter – 40 beds for veterans;
New shelter TBD – 72 beds for single adults;
Safe Sleeping Program – 760 tent spaces, up to two people per tent across two sites;
Safe Parking Program – 355 spaces, including 18 trailers for families across four sites.
The Fiscal Year 2027 will take effect July 1 and reflects a revenue increase of $90.9 million, or 4.4%, from the previous fiscal year’s budget.
The budget includes a $35.7 million increase from property taxes, which was offset by an $18.9 million decrease in sales tax revenue and a $17.2 million decrease in franchise fee revenue.
The overall general fund revenues are projected to drop by $3 million, or 0.2%.
