April 20--Mayor Eric Garcetti on Monday released his proposed $8.57-billion budget for the next fiscal year, a plan that would preserve funding for at least 10,000 police officers on Los Angeles' streets and boost anti-gang initiatives, among other measures.
Like last week's State of the City address, the proposed budget for the 2015-2016 fiscal year starting July 1 shows that Garcetti is pivoting to public safety as a key theme of his administration. Earlier this year, the L.A. Police Department announced a jump in violent crime after more than a decade of declining rates.
Garcetti's budget proposal includes $5.5 million to expand the long-running Gang Reduction and Youth Development program and $567,000 to expand Domestic Abuse Response Teams. The latter are groups of civilian workers who accompany police officers on domestic-violence calls.
During a news conference announcing his spending proposals Monday, Garcetti called public safety "the most critical city service," but his budget also includes money for some of the infrastructure improvements central to his "Back to Basics" agenda for improving city government.
The mayor's plan would set aside $4.1 million to expand street-cleaning and install 1,200 new trash bins, as well as $1 million for more cleaning of park bathrooms. The budget also includes $31 million to begin fixing city sidewalks as required by a $1.3-billion legal settlement this month.
Overall, Garcetti said, city tax revenue is increasing as L.A. sees the benefits of a gradual economic recovery following the Great Recession.
City Administrative Officer Miguel Santana said the mayor's proposals keep the city on track to eliminate the year-over-year or "structural" deficit by the 2018-2019 fiscal year.
However, the surplus that year is now estimated to be $2.6 million, about $20 million less than previously foreseen. Santana said the projected surplus has been scaled back in part because of pay raises the city agreed to last month in negotiations with the union representing LAPD officers.
To see Garcetti's entire budget proposal, visit www.lamayor.org/openbudget.
