The City of Los Angeles is in for a challenging budget year, which was made even more difficult because of a big decision made this month at the ballot box.
The contentious measure known as Healthy Streets L.A. (HLA),
saw pushback from many, including local firefighters who said L.A.'s already congested streets would be made worse, resulting in longer wait times in emergency situations.
Now that it has passed with 63% voting in favor, KNX News' Craig Fiegener is speaking with stakeholders about how measure HLA will impact L.A.'s financial planning.
Next month, Mayor Karen Bass will submit her proposed budget and has to make room for the construction of bus and bike lanes across Los Angeles as HLA requires.
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City administrative officers projected a price tag of $300 million annually over the next ten years for the work, so where is that money coming from?
According to Pomona College politics professor Dr. Sarah Seguin, "When we tie our hands and force the city council to put a portion of the budget towards something like bike lanes, it means that money has to be coming out of some other kinds of city services; public safety, the LAPD budget - whether that be money towards the inside safe program or even the acquisition and building of affordable housing so that money is going to have to come from somewhere."
For comparison, the estimated HLA price tag is substantially more than the $250 million currently budgeted for Inside Safe, which is having its own money related issues.
Los Angeles City Councilmember Bob Blumenfield, who was against the measure, is chair of the budget committee. He tells KNX News, "I never like to see constraints put on the budget-making process for the city because it ends up - You have to go through all these contortions to get a balanced budget."
Blumenfield said that while he doesn't think people's worst fears will be realized, as the committee will figure it out, he says the measure does present a challenge, and people should not expect their great aspirations to come true either.
He said the calculated cost of $300 million is likely an overestimation, but it will still be a significant amount of money.
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