With international tourism expected to soar locally in coming years thanks to the World Cup, Olympics and other events, the county Board of Supervisors took steps Tuesday aimed at bolstering funding for the Department of Public Health and supporting its efforts to track and combat communicable diseases.
With a population of about 10 million, Los Angeles is one of the most highly populated counties in the country, while Los Angeles International Airport has up to 70,000 flights a month, carrying up to 4 million passengers, according to Tuesday’s motion by Supervisors Holly Mitchell and Lindsey Horvath.
According to the motion, in 2024, DPH received more than 14,000 confirmed and probable reports of diseases and outbreaks, excluding COVID-19, and reviewed more than 9,700 HIV cases and 28,000 syphilis cases.
The department’s $1.8 billion budget is primarily supported by federal funding, and only about 14% is supported by the county — which the motion claims is “significantly less local funding than public health agencies in other large urban jurisdictions.”
The county is also preparing for a large overflow of tourists with the upcoming major sporting events — the 2026 NBA All-Star game, 2026 FIFA World Cup, 2027 Super Bowl LXI, and the 2028 Olympics and Paralympic Games.
“These large-scale events place county residents at higher risk for emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases such as H5 bird flu, measles, dengue, and tuberculosis,” the motion states.
In April, county CEO Fesia Davenport announced a $48 billion budget for the 2025-26 fiscal year with multiple departments facing 3% budget cuts and elimination of 310 vacant positions.
Davenport had stated the county was grappling with added pressures of more than $1 billion in costs related to the January wildfires and scheduled $4 billion settlement sexual abuse cases.
With approval of the motion Tuesday, the board directed that as a part of the 2025-26 supplemental budget, the CEO should transfer $5 million to the DPH’s operating budget to continue efforts to mitigate communicable diseases.
The board also asked the CEO to report back with a plan to establish a County Public Health Emergencies Reserve Fund and identify $20 million in one-time funding for any outbreaks, pandemics, bioterrorism preparedness or environmental crises.