Residents of Los Angeles Wednesday urged the City Council to allocate funding for social programs and city services that would otherwise be cut in the mayor’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2024-25.
After four hours of public comment, council members recessed their meeting until 10 a.m. Thursday, when they are expected to reconvene in the Council Chambers to review revisions made by the budget committee to Mayor Karen Bass’ proposed $12.8 billion spending plan. Council members dedicated Wednesday’s meeting to hear from residents.
According to Councilman Bob Blumenfield, who chairs the budget committee, their meeting will be scheduled until 7 p.m., but expects that they will get through their work earlier. Council members will go page-by-page of the revised budget and address any items called special. Any memos or items that would have a budget impact will be referred to the budget committee for further discussion.
The City Council may approve the revised budget Thursday, or further revisions may be necessary before a final vote. Following the council’s approval, the revised spending plan would go to Bass for her signature or veto. The budget needs to be approved by the City Council and Bass before the start of the next fiscal year, which begins July 1.
About 100 people showed up to Council Chambers to voice their thoughts on the city’s proposed budget. Another five people called in by telephone.
There were calls for City Council to find and allocate funding for daily services such as street light and sidewalk repairs, trash pick up, and positions at parks and recreation facilities. Other individuals urged the council to fund social service programs to support survivors of domestic violence, immigrant communities, and bolster unarmed response programs to better address calls for service involving mental health crises.
Larry Fondation, executive director of United Parents and Students, a nonprofit helping low-income communities, called on council members to restore funding for a guaranteed basic income program dubbed BIG LEAP.
“We believe that guaranteed basic income is the single best tool the city can employ to actually prevent homelessness…,” Fondation said.
Jessica Melendez, a member of the United to House LA Coalition, asked the City Council to fully allocate funding generated from Measure ULA, a 2022 voter-approved sales tax on properties valued more than $5 million. Money from this tax is specifically used to fund homelessness and housing programs, such as renters’ rights education, rent relief, legal services, eviction prevention, among other things.
In 2023 alone, the city allocated some $150 million generated by Measure ULA and has been careful to roll out more as the tax faces legal challenges led by opponents such as the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association and the Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles.
Gillian Burgos, a member of the North Hollywood Neighborhood Council, and a candidate running for the Second District in the November election to fill the seat left by Council President Paul Krekorian, criticized the proposed budget.
“…We are cutting down services that would make our streets safer for everyone,” Burgos said, emphasizing that she was speaking for herself. “Nearly half of the city’s $6.8 billion in unrestricted revenue is being given to LAPD, literally a blank check of funds that will not be given back if unspent.”
She added, “To approve this would be defunding the people of the city and asking us to pay more for less services.”
Last week, the Budget, Finance and Innovation Committee adopted revisions to the budget, and it now needs to be considered by the full council.
Some of the revisions the committee approved last week include:
— Restoring 100 positions at the Bureau of Street Services, avoiding potential layoffs of workers who pave city streets and repair sidewalks;
— Restoring 85 positions in the Department of Recreation and Parks, ensuring that park maintenance crews are not impacted, and other programs run by staff will not be terminated; and
— Allocating $6.5 million for domestic violence prevention programs.
Critics of the proposed budget include Vanessa Flores Waite, who represents Everytable, a company that helps the city execute its Rapid Response Senior Meals program. She raised concerns about how the budget would slash funding for this “very important benefit” for seniors ages 60 an up in the city.
City Controller Kenneth Mejia previously highlighted how several departments will see a decrease in operation funding — the Bureau of Street Services faces a decrease of $30 million, the Fire Department would see a reduction of about $22.9 million, funding for sanitation would decrease by $17.3 million, the City Controller’s Office would see a decrease of $2.5 million and animal services’ funding would also see a decline of about $1 million.
Cathie Santo-Domingo, assistant general manager of the Department of Recreation and Parks, told Ethnic Media Services that if the proposed budget cuts and staffing reductions move forward, it would “cut the core of the department’s operations and maintenance of city parks and threaten the safety and well-being of park visitors.”
Bass’ proposed spending plan represents a $323.3 million, or 2.46%, decrease from the 2023-24 budget of $13.1 billion.
In the current fiscal year, the city faces a $467 million deficit, composed of a revenue shortfall of $180 million below projections, and unexpected spending of about $289 million, mainly from liability payouts related to the LAPD, among other costs.
In a bid to address the $467 million deficit, city officials have taken steps, including dipping into the reserve fund, increasing fees for city services, reducing capital spending and implementing a priority hiring plan with the intention of eliminating 2,139 vacant positions from the city’s books.
Bass and top city officials have called the budget as a hitting a “reset,” and defended the spending plan as the city is geared to face a multi-year deficit. Matt Szabo, the city administrative officer, has said they hope to stabilize the city’s finances by fiscal year 2028-29.