By JOSE HERRERA
The Los Angeles City Council on Friday finalized a revised budget for fiscal year 2025-26 that now heads to Mayor Karen Bass’ desk for her consideration.bre
More than a week after the council preliminarily approved the revised $14 billion spending plan, members took a second and final vote on the matter Friday. Elected officials voted 11-2 to advance a budget resolution, which reflects the changes council members made to Bass’ initial proposal.
Council members John Lee and Traci Park opposed the revised spending plan, while Nithya Raman and Monica Rodriguez were absent during the vote.
The matter was previously scheduled earlier this week, but a vote was delayed as staff finished up paperwork and submitted it to the appropriate council file.
With the city facing a $1 billion budget deficit, council members have said the revised budget saves 1,000 jobs that were proposed for layoffs, while maintaining core city services.
Bass initially called for 1,647 layoffs and the elimination of more than 1,000 vacant positions as part of a plan to address the deficit. To further reduce layoffs, city officials are considering the transfer of employees to proprietary departments such as the Department of Water and Power, airports and port — which are not funded by the general fund but rather through revenue generated by their operations.
While unionized city employees recognized the effort to reduce layoffs, some say the loss of positions would likely cause severe cuts to essential services and increase liabilities in the next fiscal year.
Charles Leon, a regional coordinator for Service Employees International Union Local 721, said Tuesday that the union is committed to working with the city on workforce development, in particular to address vacancy rates. He called for open discussions to improve service delivery and promote career opportunities for historically underserved communities.
“This discussion needs to start now — not at some better time in the unforeseeable future,” Leon said.
SEIU Local 721, which represents some city workers, is part of the Coalition of Los Angeles City Unions. The coalition consists of several labor unions such as American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees 3090, Teamsters, Laborers’ International Union of North America Local 777, LA/OC Building Trades and others, which represent more than 10,000 city employees.
Key aspects of the revised spending plan include money for 240 new police officers over the coming year, down from 480 proposed by the mayor; and 58 new employees for the Los Angeles Fire Department, also a reduction from 227 proposed by Bass.
Overall, the police and fire departments are expected to receive a year-over-year increase in their operational budgets. Rodriguez, Park and Lee previously criticized the revised budget, citing concerns with the resources allocated toward public safety.
The council also reduced spending in Bass’ signature homelessness program, Inside Safe. But Rodriguez had said more money should have been shifted out due to the program’s lack of oversight and high cost.
Meanwhile, Councilman Tim McOsker said a lack of cost-cutting measures to the city’s public safety departments would have resulted in more layoffs and threats to core services such as street repairs, sanitation, street lighting and much more.
He reiterated that the council could have an opportunity to increase police hiring if the economic outlook improves.
The deficit is a result of overspending, costly liability payouts, lower tax revenues, labor contracts and fire recovery, among other challenges. The city is expected to cover $250 million due to labor agreements in 2025-26.
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The revised budget includes an additional $5 million for the Animal Services Department, which Bass called for, and funding to continue the Climate Emergency Mobilization Office; among other things.
The city must adopt a new budget before the start of next fiscal year, which begins July 1.
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