The Los Angeles City Council Wednesday is expected to review revisions made by the budget committee to the mayor’s proposed $12.8 billion budget for the 2024-25 fiscal year.
Additionally, council members are expected to dedicate Wednesday’s meeting to hear from residents of the city and allow them to weigh in on the proposed spending plan. Last week, the Budget, Finance and Innovation Committee adopted revisions to the budget, and it now needs to be considered by the full council.
Following the council’s approval, the revised spending plan would go to Bass for her signature or veto. Over the past few weeks, the committee heard from department heads to help fill critical gaps and adjust funding priorities.
“I’m proud that our committee was able to not only fund critical shared priorities of the council like addressing homelessness, continuing infrastructure services and more, but also work with general managers to meet many of their unique needs- even in the face of a dire budget,” Councilman Bob Blumenfield, chair of the budget committee, said in a statement.
Some of the revisions the committee approved Thursday, 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.