LA City Council Passes Budget That Trims Fire, Police Spending

The Los Angeles City Council approved a $13.9 billion budget proposal for the next fiscal year on Friday, trimming Mayor Karen Bass’s plans to increase public safety spending, in an effort to reduce layoffs amid a nearly $800 million deficit.

In an 11-2 vote, council members endorsed a revised spending plan that departs from Bass’s original proposal, which called for 1,600 layoffs. The new plan trims the layoff count to roughly 700, still impacting workers in sanitation, street maintenance and administrative roles.

Funding was also reinstated to key programs including the Cultural Affairs Department, legal support for immigrants and the Climate Emergency Mobilization Office. General fund spending will remain flat year-over-year. The plan will now head to the mayor’s desk for her consideration. If Bass vetoes the budget resolution, the council has five working days to override her decision with a two-thirds vote.

L.A.’s financial outlook has worsened as the city grapples with the aftermath of its most destructive wildfire season and widespread homelessness. Additionally, downtown L.A. has never fully recovered from the pandemic, and its film industry continues to lose productions to places with more generous tax breaks.

Matthew Szabo, the city administrative officer, warned in March that LA was heading into a fiscal crisis, fueled by surging legal settlements, lower-than-expected tax collections and mounting personnel costs tied to scheduled wage hikes for city workers.

At the same time, the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown threatens the construction labor force needed to rebuild high-value neighborhoods that contribute to the tax base.

“We are in one of the most difficult financial crises that the city has seen decades, so every department put in an effort to make sure the city could stay afloat,” said councilmember Eunisses Hernandez.

The latest budget plan limits new hiring at the city’s police and fire departments, marking a departure from Bass’s original proposal last month. Mayor Bass faces mounting pressure over public safety concerns as the city prepares for a global spotlight with the 2026 FIFA World Cup and 2028 Olympics.

The approved budget allows for the hiring of only 240 new officers at the Los Angeles Police Department over the next fiscal year, half the 480 proposed by the mayor. That would bring the LAPD’s total force to its lowest staffing level since 1995.

Similarly, the Fire Department will be permitted to add about 60 new employees, far fewer than the 227 positions Bass had sought. The mayor’s office had asked the state of California for wildfire-related financial aid earlier this year but has yet to receive any emergency funding or stimulus.

“Look around you. Do we need less firefighters?” said Rick Caruso, a billionaire developer and former mayoral candidate, during an interview Wednesday at his Palisades Village shopping center, which was surrounded by ruins burned in the January wildfire. “All these promises that the mayor made about building up the police force, it’s going backwards. Now we will have the lowest amount of police per capita in the history of this city.”

Some in the progressive wing of the Los Angeles City Council contend that the latest budget proposal does take ample measures to improve public safety.

“For my community, public safety looks like working street lights, fixed sidewalks and safe street infrastructure so people can walk to work and get home safely,” said councilmember Hernandez. “People like Rick Caruso need to understand that public safety means a lot more than police.”

The budget resolution also restored some funding for streetlight repairs and street resurfacing.

To close the budget gap, the council is pulling $29 million from the city’s rainy day fund, seeking an additional $20 million in business tax revenue, and increasing parking fines to raise $14 million. The new fiscal year begins on July 1.

Top photo: Workers with the EPA load a barrel filled with lithium-ion batteries removed from a burned electric vehicle after the Palisades Fire in Los Angeles on Jan. 30.