With city revenues in San Diego expected to rise — maybe by a lot, if voters OK a sales tax hike next month — council members have expanded their wish lists for the city’s next budget, including a major surge in arts funding. Council members also want more money to prevent evictions, preserve low-rent housing, boost the city’s tree canopy, recruit police officers, pave roads, fix sidewalks and make local streets safer for pedestrians. But the largest new request in budget priorities the council sent Mayor Todd Gloria last week is to more than double annual arts funding from $16.1 million in the ongoing budget to $32.4 million in the new budget. The sharp increase would fulfill a longtime city goal of giving arts and culture programs 1 full cent of the 10.5 cents per dollar in tax revenue the city gets from hotel stays. Tight city budgets have made that goal seem unattainable in recent years, but San Diego expects an annual boost to its $2.2 billion budget of roughly $80 million from a new fee single-family homeowners will start paying for trash pickup next summer. And Measure E on the Nov. 5 ballot would double the city’s annual sales tax revenue from about $400 million to $800 million if passed, giving council members and Gloria the opportunity to increase funding in many areas. Some council members cite those potential revenue increases as sources of money for the wish lists they submitted for the fiscal 2026 budget — but others say it makes sense to wait and first see if voters approve Measure E. “Understanding that the outcome of November’s Measure E will significantly impact the outlook for the FY2026 budget, our priorities closely mirror last year’s priorities and what was ultimately funded in the FY2025 budget,” Council President Sean Elo-Rivera said. “The city should focus on maintaining current services and staffing until Measure E is decided. Our budget priorities update in January will account for the outcome of Measure E.” The city’s independent budget analyst, which compiled the budget priority memos, endorsed Elo-Rivera’s approach. Still, five of nine council members supported more than doubling arts funding, and another two members suggested increasing arts funding by more than 37 percent, from $16.1 million to $22.1 million. Christine Martinez, leader of Arts and Culture San Diego, said the additional money would make a big difference. “We truly believe that if we fund arts and culture to the full degree, we really will impact our city,” she told the council’s economic development committee early this month. Arts supporters stress that grants they receive have a multiplier effect, because state and federal arts funding often requires a local match. Council members are also asking the mayor to create a long-awaited preservation fund for non-subsidized, low-rent housing that the city calls “naturally occurring affordable housing.” Eight of nine council members supported creating the fund, and five of those eight said the mayor should provide $3 million in seed money for a consultant to manage it and seek potential partners. The independent budget analyst said the seed money could land the city a matching state grant. Council members also want more money for an eviction prevention program called the Housing Instability Prevention Program, which provides financial assistance to low-income households. Council members requested a funding increase beyond the $5.2 million in the ongoing budget, suggesting the city should increase monthly household subsidies above the existing range of $250 to $750 and help more households. Other housing priorities include creating a rent registry, adding homeless shelter beds and funding a pilot prevention program for former foster youths at risk of homelessness. The rent registry, which the San Diego Housing Commission would create and manage, would post online all at-fault and no-fault just cause eviction notices from landlords within three business days of the landlord issuing a tenant termination notice. On trees, council members want more money for planting enough new trees to help reach the city’s 2035 goal of having a 35% tree canopy. They suggest low-income neighborhoods be prioritized. Council members also want money to further reduce police officer vacancies, which are already down significantly compared with one year ago — 146 versus 193. They suggest spending the money to develop a local recruitment strategy at colleges and universities. All council members requested more money for street paving and to fix sidewalks, eight requested money to fix streetlights, six want money for separated bike lanes and five want money for new fire stations. All council members also requested money to fund safety upgrades aimed at reducing pedestrian injuries and deaths. Those upgrades include flashing beacons and signs, such as audible pedestrian signals, and giving pedestrians more time to cross intersections. The process of creating the fiscal 2026 budget will come into greater focus when the mayor’s finance staff releases a five-year financial outlook Dec. 4 — after the results of the Measure E vote have become official. Council members will get a chance to revise their budget priorities in January, three months before the mayor unveils his proposed budget in mid-April.