A Los Angeles City Council committee Thursday amended Mayor Karen Bass' proposed $12.8 billion budget for the 2024-25 fiscal year to fund a number of priority areas, ensure legal obligations are met and bolster public safety.
During Thursday's Budget, Finance and Innovation Committee meeting, council members adopted revisions to the budget, and next week it will be heard and voted by the full City Council before going to Bass for her signature or veto. Over the past few weeks, the committee has heard from department heads to help fill critical gaps and adjust funding priorities.
The committee also heard from some members of the public for just one day about services the budget should support and continue funding. The City Council will dedicate some time Wednesday for members of the public to weigh in on the revised budget before a vote Thursday.
"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.
"I take the health of our city's finances very seriously and there is no sugar coating the reality we face for the next year -- services will be reduced because we will be operating under the worst budget since the Great Recession so we must continue to be very careful."
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;
-- Allocating $6.5 million for domestic violence prevention programs;
-- Allocating funding to ensure the City Clerk's office is able to hire staff and help the city pay its bills on time;
-- $2 million will be provided to the Department of Animal Services to fund the spay and neuter program and bolster the trap-neuter-release effort for cats;
-- Key positions within the Department of Transportation and Cultural Affairs will be restored; and
-- Revisions to the budget will result in an increase to the reserve fund.
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"The committee's work has been painstaking and ultimately successful - - we still have a balanced budget, we avoided layoffs, and we are taking a thoughtful approach to what we are cutting and restoring in departmental budgets," Blumenfield said.
Committee members also updated the procedures for allocating funding to Bass' cornerstone homeless program, Inside Safe, which aims to reduce homeless encampments by bringing unhoused individuals inside into motel rooms, or other housing options that may be available.
Specifically, Bass' office or the chief administrative officer would report back to council on the status of previous allocations; amounts available and expended; program metrics; services provided; and how the money used is helping the city meet any of its legal obligations.
The council may have the option of also adding further restrictions if the reports do not meet a certain level of standard, and require an expenditure plan be created before any allocation is approved.
The committee also approved new program guidelines and revised the Measure ULA budget -- the 2022 voter-approved measure imposes a 4.5%-5% tax on the sale of proprieties over $5 million with revenue generated being used for homeless prevention programs.
According to the city officials, the changes ensure that the program is based on "cash-on-hand" and complies with the required categories specified in the measure.
Los Angeles officials need to be mindful of how much Measure ULA- generated revenue they use as it is being challenged in court and faces threats from a state ballot measure.
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.
According to the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank and the UCLA Elder Economic Index, 1 in 3 seniors struggle to afford basic needs like food and shelter). In an email to City News Service, Waite said the program quickly maxed out its 5,800 available slots in its second iteration, and has a waiting list of more than 1,000 seniors, who will be "left scrambling to access healthy food should the City Council not revise the budget and add this program back in."
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.
Blumenfield had recognized that "not everything" that they want funded can be funded.
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