The Los Angeles City Council is poised for a response from Mayor Karen Bass regarding a revised spending plan amounting to $14 billion for the fiscal year 2025-26, with a decision deadline set for Friday.
As the city grapples with a projected deficit of roughly $1 billion for the coming fiscal year, elected officials are finalizing a budget that aims to manage financial constraints while minimizing potential layoffs.
Last week, the City Council voted 11 to 2 to approve the spending plan in its final form, which now goes to Bass for her approval or veto.
According to the City Charter guidelines, the mayor has until Friday to present her veto message, should she choose to reject the plan.
If a veto occurs, the council members will have five business days, excluding weekends, to address the mayor’s objections or concerns.
Overriding a mayoral veto would require the support of at least 10 out of the 15 City Council members.
In a significant shift from Bass’s initial proposal, which included the layoff of 1,647 city employees and the elimination of over 1,000 vacant roles, the City Council has been working diligently to curb potential job losses.
To help mitigate layoffs, city officials are exploring the option of transferring employees to proprietary departments like the Department of Water and Power, as well as airports and port operations—departments that are funded through generated revenue rather than the general fund.
Unionized city employees have acknowledged the city’s effort to reduce layoffs but have expressed concerns that the anticipated job cuts could severely impact essential services, thereby exacerbating liabilities in the next fiscal year.
It is estimated that around 647 city workers may still face job cuts, which could adversely affect the functionality of numerous departments, including civil rights and equity and youth development.
Charles Leon, a regional coordinator for Service Employees International Union Local 721, has emphasized the need for proactive discussions regarding workforce development to tackle vacancy rates within the city.
He called for immediate engagement to enhance service delivery and foster career pathways for historically underserved communities.
“This discussion needs to start now—not at some better time in the unforeseeable future,” Leon asserted.
SEIU Local 721 is part of the Coalition of Los Angeles City Unions, which includes various labor organizations representing over 10,000 city employees.
The revised spending plan allocates funds for 240 new police officers over the next year, significantly down from the 480 initially proposed by Bass.
Additionally, the Los Angeles Fire Department is set to receive funding for 58 new positions, a reduction from the previously proposed 227.
Despite this decrease in personnel, both the police and fire departments are expected to see a year-over-year increase in their operational budgets.
Critics of the revised budget, including Council members Rodriguez, Park, and Lee, have voiced concerns about funding priorities, particularly regarding public safety resources, with some arguing for a reassessment of expenditure in programs like Inside Safe, Bass’s homelessness initiative.
Rodriguez expressed that more funding should have been redirected away from the homelessness program citing concerns over oversight and its cost-effectiveness.
Councilman Tim McOsker warned that a lack of budgetary cuts to public safety departments could have resulted in more layoffs, endangering essential services such as street repairs, sanitation, and street lighting.
He noted that if the city’s economic situation improves, it might open avenues for increasing police hiring in the future.
The deficit arises from a combination of overspending, costly liability payouts, declining tax revenues, labor agreements, and fire recovery expenses, resulting in the need to cover $250 million due to labor contracts in the upcoming fiscal year 2025-26.
As the city approaches the new fiscal year starting July 1, the necessity to adopt an updated budget becomes increasingly urgent.
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