LA Mayor Unveils $8.5B Budget Plan To Boost Services, LAPD Staffing
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Tree-trimming services, sidewalk repairs and affordable housing in Los Angeles would be among several local programs to receive a boost in funding under a proposed $8.5 billion budget plan released Monday.
KNX 1070's Jon Baird reports Garcetti unveiled his budget proposal for the 2015-16 fiscal year, a plan which the mayor called the healthiest in years.
Along with more funding for city services, the budget plan (PDF) calls for purchasing 7,000 police body cameras, and funding more in-car digital cameras for police officers, along with an additional $5.5 million for the city's anti-gang program and $567,000 to expand a domestic abuse response program to all police stations.
Garcetti said beefing up the city's police presence remains a high priority for his administration.
"We're adding more civilian detention officers, more crime analysts, and fingerprint specialists to make sure that we put sworn officers who are now behind desks back on the street," he said.
While acknowledging the spending plan assumes a spike in revenues of about 5.5 percent - including property tax, sales tax and hotel tax revenue - Garcetti said he plans on taking a "very disciplined approach" to the expected additional income.
The proposed budget also assumes that about 20,000 city workers will agree to no raises and paying a bigger percentage of their health-care costs, even though negotiations with city employee unions have dragged on since their contracts expired last year, and some workers are threatening to go on strike.
The upcoming budget year marks the first in which the city is required to budget $31 million toward sidewalk repairs, as part of a recent $1.4 billion settlement of several lawsuits lodged by disabled residents and advocates.
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