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Council approves annual reports for Maintenance Assessment Districts and Downtown PBID budgets
Summary
The council unanimously approved FY2027 annual reports and funding authorizations for 54 Parks & Recreation MADs and 10 Economic Development MADs and approved the Downtown PBID budget after staff presentations and public comment about operations, transparency and downtown restroom access.
The San Diego City Council on Monday approved annual reports and related financial authorizations for the city’s Maintenance Assessment Districts (MADs) and approved the Downtown Property and Business Improvement District (PBID) FY2027 budget.
City planning and department staff explained that the MAD program allows property owners to fund local improvements—landscaping, sidewalk cleaning, graffiti removal and other services—through assessments that appear on property tax bills. Staff said the city oversees 64 MADs (54 under Parks & Recreation oversight and 10 under Economic Development) and requested authorization for the chief financial officer to appropriate and expend funds and to manually bill property owners who do not receive county property tax bills.
During public comment, business association representatives and community CDC leaders described MAD and PBID activities—regular power washing, trash removal, safety ambassador responses and beautification events—and urged approval. Several public commenters raised transparency concerns about management of nonprofit operators and asked for clearer public reporting and periodic hearings. Some speakers also urged the downtown PBID to address gaps in restroom access and services for people experiencing homelessness.
Council members thanked staff and the nonprofit managers for neighborhood services and emphasized oversight and accountability. Council Member Campbell moved approval of the Parks & Recreation MAD annual reports; the motion passed unanimously 8–0 with Council Member Foster absent. Council then approved the Economic Development MAD reports and authorizations and separately approved the Downtown PBID budget by the same margin. City staff said the actions will allow the assessments to be submitted to the county by the August 10 deadline to appear on property tax bills and ensure continuity of district services.
Council’s approvals include staff authorizations to expend funds and to permit manual billing where owners are not billed by the county. Several councilmembers encouraged continued community engagement with nonprofit managers and noted the program’s reliance on engineer’s reports for assessment methodology and boundaries.
The meeting record shows no changes to assessment methodologies were adopted at the hearing; staff indicated those remain governed by each district’s engineer’s report and could be updated through the annual process.
