LA City Council has very tough choices to make about potential budget cuts

Budget season has arrived, and on Tuesday, April 30, the Los Angeles City Council’s budget committee will kick off the first in a series of meetings to go over the city’s spending plan for the upcoming fiscal year.

Mayor Karen Bass last week proposed a budget of $12.8 billion for the 2024-25 fiscal year – a decrease of $293 million, or about 2%, from this year’s budget. The city is looking to shore up its finances, having been hit with lower-than-expected revenues as well as increased labor costs and other rising expenses this year.

Bass has said she remains committed to prioritizing core city services as well as investments in homeless programs and public safety even as her budget calls for the elimination of 2,139 mostly vacant positions, including some which have gone unfilled for years.

Still, the City Council — which in the past 12 months, and with Bass’ endorsement, has voted for hefty pay raises for rank-and-file police officers and their superiors, as well as the majority of the city’s civilian workforce — has some difficult decisions to make in the weeks ahead as they look to balance the overall budget.

For example, under the mayor’s proposed budget, the city’s street lighting bureau would see a $5.3 million reduction, or about a 9.4% decrease, to its budget. In a report to the City Council’s budget committee, bureau director Miguel Sangalang said he expects lighting outages to “rapidly increase.”

The reason? An increase in copper wire thefts, coupled with the expected loss of some positions and cuts to overtime budget for staff to handle service calls.

And the street services bureau is looking at a $30 million budget cut, or about a 13.1% hit. Keith Mozee, who heads up the bureau, said in his report to the budget committee that the bureau would see a net loss of 383 positions – although it wasn’t clear how many are currently vacant.

The proposed cuts would mean that the bureau “will simply not be able to maintain the level of service it has provided in recent years, and to which Angelenos have become accustomed,” Mozee wrote. He noted that major storms and weather events the past two years required “an unprecedented response” from his bureau, including seven-days-a-week operations to repair potholes.

The Department of Aging is facing more than $5 million in cuts, or a 30.6% reduction to its budget. General Manager Jaime Pacheco-Orozco raised concerns that the cuts would reduce service levels for some of the city’s most vulnerable residents, including eliminating funding for the Rapid Response Senior Meals Program that provides meals to 5,800 seniors facing food insecurity.

These are just a few examples of tough choices that await city councilmembers as they decide what to fund – or cut – from the 2024-25 budget.

Bob Blumenfield, chair of the council’s budget committee, said Monday, April 29, that the mayor’s proposed budget “highlights the reality that our city is facing one of the most fiscally dire situations since the Great Recession.”

“Facing costs associated with new labor deals, less than expected revenues and the drying up of federal COVID-related aid, Mayor Bass has put forward some tough choices,” Blumenfield said. “Our committee will go over these choices and each department’s budget with a fine tooth comb to consider needed changes.”

Members of the public with questions about a department’s budget can submit them to Blumenfield’s office. The councilmember will select some questions to ask during the budget hearings. The questions and input from the public will also be used to generate other questions or topics that the budget committee might consider.

To submit a question, visit bit.ly/labudgetquestions24.

In addition, the committee will set aside time for in-person public comment during its Wednesday, May 1, meeting.

Below is the schedule for the budget hearings. They will be held in the City Council Chamber at City Hall, 200 N. Spring St.

Tuesday, April 30: 1 p.m. The meeting will include presentations by the mayor’s office and City Administrative Officer Matt Szabo, including an overview of anticipated revenues.

Wednesday, May 1: 1 p.m. The meeting will focus on city employees’ pension plans and the Port of Los Angeles’ budget. Note: On this day, the committee will take its only public comment on the schedule so far.

Thursday, May 2: 9 a.m. The budgets for the following departments and offices will be discussed: Office of Finance/Treasurer, city attorney, ethics commission, personnel, city controller, police, fire, information technology, recreation and parks, planning, building and safety, economic workforce and development, disability and aging.

Friday, May 3: 10 a.m. The budgets for the following departments and offices will be discussed: Public works, general services, transportation, cultural affairs and library.

Monday, May 6: 9 a.m. The budgets for the following departments and offices will be discussed: Community Investment for Families, housing, Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, city clerk, zoo, El Pueblo, public accountability, animal services, tourism, neighborhood empowerment, civil + human rights and equity, cannabis regulation, youth development, emergency management, city administrative officer.

Wednesday, May 8: 1 p.m. The budget hearings will wrap up with additional comments from department heads and the city administrative officer, plus any additional discussions or instructions to city staff as needed.

The City Council must adopt a budget by June 1. It is tentatively scheduled to vote on the budget on May 23.