{"id":741766,"date":"2026-04-20T23:03:15","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T23:03:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/741766\/"},"modified":"2026-04-20T23:03:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T23:03:15","slug":"l-a-mayor-bass-offers-a-hold-the-line-budget-with-no-layoffs-and-few-big-increases","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/741766\/","title":{"rendered":"L.A. Mayor Bass offers a hold-the-line budget, with no layoffs and few big increases"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass released a budget <\/a>bombshell<\/a> last year, stunning the city workforce by proposing widespread layoffs and other cuts in a bid to erase a $1-billion spending gap.<\/p>\n

On Monday, in the midst of a tough reelection fight, Bass unveiled a much rosier $14.9-billion spending plan for 2026-2027 that \u2014 thanks in part to increased tax revenues \u2014 avoids layoffs and keeps many city service levels unchanged.<\/p>\n

With six weeks until the June 2 city primary election, Bass is seeking to hire 510 officers at the Los Angeles Police Department, enough to cover the retirements and resignations that are expected in that agency, according to her budget team.<\/p>\n

The mayor is also planning to retain the same number of firefighters, holding off on any expansion of the Los Angeles Fire Department at least until November, after voters have determined the fate of a sales tax hike to pay for the department\u2019s operations, her team said.<\/p>\n

The budget, which must be approved by the City Council, also preserves the same level of services delivered by Inside Safe, the mayor\u2019s signature program to fight homelessness.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, a handful of programs are on track to receive a boost.<\/p>\n

Bass is looking to significantly ramp up the installation of \u201ccurb cuts\u201d \u2014 wheelchair ramps on sidewalks at intersections \u2014 and remove more of the trash that lines many of L.A.\u2019s streets. The budget also adds 170 new positions at the agency that handles street repairs, according to her team.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are investing in what works, fixing what doesn\u2019t and making smarter decisions with every dollar so that results are faced in every neighborhood,\u201d Bass said at a City Hall news conference laying out her spending strategies.<\/p>\n

The mayor\u2019s budget plan is benefiting from higher-than-expected business, property and sales tax revenues, both in the current budget year and the one that begins on July 1.<\/p>\n

Still, the city isn\u2019t yet in a place where officials can restore all of the services that were cut last year, said City Administrative Officer Matt Szabo. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe are making steady steps toward stability,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The hold-the-line budget comes as Bass faces four major challengers in the upcoming primary. Each has criticized her over the quality of city services and the results produced by Inside Safe, which moves homeless Angelenos into expensive hotel and motel rooms.<\/p>\n

Adam Miller, a tech entrepreneur and one of the major mayoral candidates, called Bass\u2019 spending plan a \u201cstatus quo\u201d budget. <\/p>\n

\u201cAngelenos overwhelmingly feel we need change,\u201d he said in a statement. \u201cPolitics as usual has failed, and as mayor I will use my extensive financial experience to create commonsense budgets that deliver results for Los Angeles.\u201d<\/p>\n

City Councilmember Nithya Raman, who is also challenging Bass, said she would bring in more money for the budget by tripling housing production and making it easier to run a business.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe budget the Mayor released today tells us the plan is to largely keep doing what we\u2019re doing \u2014 but what we\u2019re doing is not working,\u201d she said in a statement. \u201cThis budget maintains a status quo of reduced services and higher fees, the direct result of fiscally irresponsible decisions made by this Mayor in prior years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bass is looking to spend $104 million on Inside Safe in the upcoming year, her team said. They expect more than half of that amount will be reimbursed by Los Angeles County, which provides social services for the initiative.<\/p>\n

The mayor has repeatedly defended the program, crediting it with a 17.5% reduction in \u201cunsheltered homelessness\u201d \u2014 the number of people living on the street or in their vehicles \u2014 over a two-year span. <\/p>\n

Bass\u2019 spending plan now heads to the council\u2019s powerful Budget and Finance Committee, which is scheduled to spend several weeks reviewing it.<\/p>\n

Last year, that committee dramatically reworked Bass\u2019 budget, shifting cuts to other parts of the city workforce. The committee, and ultimately the council, cut the mayor\u2019s LAPD hiring plan in half, taking the number of new officers from 480 to 240.<\/p>\n

In January, the council reversed course and agreed to bump up the number of hires to 410.<\/p>\n

Bass is likely to face pushback over her police hiring plan again this year. Councilmember Hugo Soto-Mart\u00ednez, in a newsletter sent Saturday to his constituents, said the council\u2019s decision to continue hiring was \u201cfiscally irresponsible.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe city is now paying the price,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Councilmember Tim McOsker offered a different take, saying he welcomed Bass\u2019 strategy for hiring officers. The Los Angeles Police Protective League, which represents rank-and-file officers, also backed the proposal.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe urge the City Council to support our rank-and-file police officers and ensure that enough officers are available to provide backup and keep residents safe while patrolling our neighborhoods,\u201d the union\u2019s board said in a prepared statement.<\/p>\n

Bass has spent the last three years attempting to halt the decline in sworn officer staffing at the LAPD, which has been hovering around 8,700, down from about 10,000 in 2020. Even if the council approves her hiring plan, the department is expected to dip to about 8,555 officers by summer 2027.<\/p>\n

According to the mayor\u2019s budget team, Bass is also looking to: <\/p>\n