Business

Mayor Karen Bass Releases Her First Proposed City Budget

 

LOS ANGELES — Mayor Karen Bass released her first proposed city budget April 18, which includes nearly $1.3 billion, an unprecedented investment to build housing and confront the homelessness crisis. The budget also includes bold initiatives to improve public safety. Click here to read the budget summary.

Click here to read all budget materials. You can watch the presentation of the budget here.

Budget Highlights:

Homelessness

  • Nearly $1.3 billion for homelessness and housing.
  • $250 million for Inside Safe:
    • $110 million for motel rooms/temporary housing
    • $62 million for services (case management, moving people to permanent housing, food, support services)
    • $47 million for buying hotels and motels
    • $21 million for permanent housing – includes transition and set up of permanent housing, 12 months of rental assistance
    • $10 million for staff – including directors and property managers, administrative funding for services providers
  • Office of Housing & Homelessness Solutions – budget includes 13 outreach teams within the mayor’s administration
  • Substance abuse/mental health treatment beds – $23.5 million from tobacco ($11.8M) and opioid ($11.7M) settlements
  • Street medicine teams – $4 million to fund four medical teams serving 5,600 people. Half of this funding is provided by a Homeless Housing Assistance and Prevention Grant
  • ULA
  • Allocates a responsible $150 million in ULA funds (The city would utilize up to $150 million in federal reimbursements allocated to the city to satisfy any repayment obligation if the litigation is successful)
    • $62 million for acquisition and rehabilitation of housing
    • $20 million for short term emergency assistance for tenants
    • $25 million in income support for rent burdened at risk seniors/people with disabilities
    • $25 million for eviction defense
    • $6 million for tenant outreach
    • $12 for tenant protection from harassment

Safety 

  • LAPD
    • Nets to 9,504 LAPD Officers
      • Budget funds hiring 780 new officers and activation of 200 recently retired officers
    • $1 million for focused public safety recruitment
    • $15,000 recruitment bonus for new officers (and lateral hires)
    • Up to $2,000 referral bonus for city employees, with $1,000 payable upon hiring, and an additional $1,000 payable at academy graduation
  • LAFD
    • $21 million in funding provided for five drill tower classes of 60 recruits, for a net increase of 100 above the projected attrition level
    • Emergency appointment Paramedic program
  • Mayor’s Office of Community Safety
    • GRYD: increases funding from $28 million to $41 million
    • Summer Night Lights: funding to continue at 43 sites
    • CIRCLE Teams: continued funding for seven existing teams
    • DART (Domestic Abuse Response Teams): increases funding of approximately $1 million (to $3.7 million), which nearly doubles the number of DART advocates at LAPD divisions with the highest call volumes.

Community Investments to Address Poverty and Income Inequality 

  • $5 million to continue refurbishment of childcare centers so they can reopen
  • Increases funding for senior meals from approximately $9 million to $18 million.
  • Increased one-time contractual services funding of $6.35 million for the Community Investment for Families Department to fund supportive services for the 16 Family Source Centers, including  $200,000 for each center to provide short-term emergency housing assistance.
  • $4.6 million to continue the Solid Ground Homeless Prevention Program

Sustainability

  • Add 2,400 trees to the watering plan for total of 7,200 trees
  • $1 million to add a crew to remove 2,700 dead trees or stumps (increase of 900 from previous year)
  • $2 million to support trimming of 5,000 more trees

Infrastructure

  • In addition to required $36 million for sidewalk repair, this budget adds $28 million for additional repairs and doubles funding for access ramps to $20 million.
  • $8 million for bus shelters in underserved communities

Zoo

  • Annual capital repair program increased to $2.5 million
  • Additional $4.1 million provided as part of a multi-year investment to initiate design and pre-development activities to upgrade exhibits

Animal Services

  • Adds funding for 14 new animal care technicians
  • Provides funding for seven positions to coordinate volunteer services
  • Funds animal enrichment contract to socialize dogs and improve their health

Responsibility/ Reserves

  • $201.8 million for budget stabilization fund
  • $561.6 million for the reserve fund (7.14%)
  • $30 million reserve for mid-year adjustments
  • Overall cumulative reserves slightly above 10%

 

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