Mayor Bass to consider revised city budget

A finalized 2025-26 revised budget for the City of Los Angeles is now advancing toward Mayor Karen Bass' desk for her consideration and approval. 

On Friday, after voting was delayed, the Los Angeles City Council voted 11-2 to advance a $14 billion budget resolution and spending plan for the second largest city in the country. Once it arrives at Bass’s desk, she can approve or veto changes made by the city council. If the city council does not agree with the decision, they can override the mayor's veto with a two-thirds vote.

On May 22, the council preliminarily approved the revised budget. On Friday, members took a second and final vote on the matter.

Just as with the first vote, council members John Lee and Traci Park opposed the revised spending. In addition, Nithya Raman and Monica Rodriguez were absent during the vote.

"Throughout this process, I've brought my constituents along the way to ensure my vote reflects their priorities. While this budget reflects tough choices and is far from perfect, it shows a willingness to face our structural challenges head-on, setting a path for a more just, equitable, and inclusive Los Angeles," Ysabel Jurado, from the city’s 14th district, wrote in a post. 

Other city council members also expressed approval for the proposed budget, stating that the new proposed budget saves jobs and prevents layoffs while maintaining core city services.

Councilman Marqueece Harris-Dawson called it "the least bad we could do" when referring to the revised budget.

The $14 billion revised city plan significantly reduces the number of layoffs originally proposed by Bass. 

Back in April, Bass released her $13.95 billion proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year, announcing that layoffs were inevitable. At that time, she called for 1,647 layoffs and the elimination of 1,053 vacant positions. 

The initial proposed layoffs were in part to address the approximately $1 billion deficit that the city faced as a result of several factors, including overspending, lower-than-expected tax revenues and the $320 million in settlements and judgments for internal staff harassment, police use of force, injuries and more, all of which the city will have to pay. 

Charles Leon, a regional coordinator for Service Employees International Union Local 721   (SEIU Local 721), which represents some city workers, 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.

The council’s plan also called for a reduction in the number of new LAPD police officer hires.  Bass had originally proposed the hiring of 480 recruits in 12 classes of 40, but the new spending plan looks to only recruit 240 recruits in six classes of 40, a move that saves $13.31 million. 

The new spending plan also steers away from allocating additional dollars to create a street medicine team, a newly proposed homelessness unit within the Los Angeles Fire Department, one of the city's departments that would see an increase (9%) to its operational 2025-26 budget compared to this year. The $76 million LAFD budget will allow for the hiring of new firefighters and the purchase of new fire trucks.  

The Department of Animal Services is expected to receive $5 million from the unappropriated balance fund for the restoration of 62 positions and to ensure current service levels will remain the same in the next fiscal year across all six city-operated animal shelters.

City officials must vote a second time before it is sent to Mayor Bass for her consideration. The final budget is expected to be finalized by the end of the month; the city must adopt a new budget before the start of the next fiscal year, which begins July 1.