Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is expected to release her proposed spending plan for fiscal year 2026-27 Monday, outlining her priorities for the city.
Bass will discuss her balanced budget proposal during a news conference scheduled for 11 a.m. Monday at City Hall.
The spending plan is expected to reflect stronger tax revenues in multiple categories, according to the Mayor’s Office. Officials said the proposal aims to maintain progress on addressing homelessness, housing production and public safety, as well as repairing sidewalks and restoring street lights and other infrastructure.
The mayor is also expected to highlight accomplishments during her first term, such as reducing street homelessness by nearly 18% according to figures from the annual point-in-time homeless count, as well as lower homicide numbers and creating policies to accelerate housing projects.
Once the budget is formally released, it will then be forwarded to the City Council’s Budget and Finance Committee for consideration. Over several weeks, the committee, overseen by Councilwoman Katy Yaroslavsky, will review the spending proposal, hold hearings with department heads and make potential changes based on the council’s priorities.
The City Council and Bass must approve a final budget prior to the start of the next fiscal year, which begins July 1.
“Our focus is clear: address our fiscal challenges, protect core services and ensure the budget is sustainable,” according to a statement from Yaroslavsky.
The councilwoman is expected to host a “community conversation” Tuesday via Zoom to review the mayor’s proposal and hear from Los Angeles residents. The meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. at docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeaK01fFKH2Tp4jd8vSKdPtYS6UblvJb-co_DpAN0vplHS5-Q/viewform.
The budget committee will conduct its first budget hearing Friday at 1 p.m. in the Council Chamber at City Hall with opening remarks by Yaroslavsky. Black Lives Matter Los Angeles and the People’s Budget LA Coalition are expected to present their budget proposal and priorities they’d like the city to follow.
Bass, who was elected in 2022 after defeating billionaire developer Rick Caruso, is campaigning for a second term. Her challengers include nonprofit leader Adam Miller, City Councilwoman Nithya Raman, reality television personality Spencer Pratt and housing advocate Rae Chen Huang.
An April poll produced by the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs found voters in Los Angeles remained largely undecided in the mayor’s race, with 40% still weighing their options ahead of the June 2 primary.
Bass led the field with 25% support, followed by Pratt at 11% and Raman at 9%.
The poll showed Huang and Miller each drew 3%, while 9% of respondents said they would support another candidate. Fourteen candidates are running for mayor.
If no candidate wins a majority in the primary, the top two finishers will advance to a November runoff.
Another poll conducted by Loyola Marymount University had named Raman as the front runner, followed by Bass, Huang, Miller and Pratt.
Our city is not just facing financial strain it is being mismanaged into a deeper crisis.
We are failing at the most basic level of governance. Police and fire services remain underfunded, even as we push forward with multimillion-dollar projects like convention center renovations—that we cannot afford. This is not planning. It’s denial.
At the same time, City Hall is advancing policies that will gut our own revenue base. Eliminating the business tax risks wiping out hundreds of millions of dollars with no serious plan to replace it. Meanwhile, we propose new taxes on illegal cannabis operators while failing to collect what is already owed by legal businesses. The system isn’t just inefficient it’s broken. And the City knows it.
While leadership debates theory, reality on the ground is deteriorating:
Streets, sidewalks, and streetlights are crumbling
Emergency vehicles are outdated and unreliable
City workers are left in constant uncertainty
Departments remain bloated, fragmented, and unaccountable
Billions spent on homelessness lack transparency and results
Proposed additional reductions in graffiti removal and homeless safe Parking programs
Let’s be clear: these budgets are not truly balanced. They are paper exercises that mask service cuts, shift risk onto employees, and erode the quality of life for every resident.
And the cost of this failure is compounding. Each year, the city pays out massive liability claims many of them preventable. Cracked sidewalks, neglected infrastructure, and understaffed departments don’t just fail residents they cost taxpayers millions. Investing in the basics isn’t optional. It’s fiscally responsible.
Even animal services—one of the most fundamental responsibilities of a humane city remains critically underfunded. That is not just a budget issue. It is a reflection of priorities.
This is not a one-off mistake. It is a pattern repeated, sustained, and avoidable.
Enough.
It is time to impose real discipline: rein in spending, consolidate departments, eliminate redundancy, and demand measurable results. Long-term planning must replace short-term political convenience.
Because right now, the truth is simple:
Every resident is paying for the failures of City Hall.