The New L.A. City Budget
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa delivered his proposed budget for the next year. And he's asking for sacrifices from every department, unions, and of course citizens.
From the Los Angeles Times's account, the heart of the budget's needs, and problems:
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Tuesday released a $7.05-billion budget staked heavily on his ability to win concessions from employee unions and cut deals to lease parking garages, two essential yet unresolved components to closing an estimated $530-million shortfall.Saying the nation's spiraling recession requires "extraordinary sacrifice" from all corners of the city, the mayor called for all departments -- including police and fire -- to cut personnel costs by 10%. The resulting $231 million in savings would come either from laying off 2,800 workers, he said, or a "menu of options" that could include pay freezes, furloughs or early retirements. Villaraigosa's comments come after weeks of public warnings about the city's growing fiscal crisis, putting pressure on the city's powerful public employee unions -- major political supporters of the mayor -- to come to the bargaining table....The mayor's budget now goes before the City Council, which has 10 weeks to accept or amend the sweeping spending plan that arrived with critical components still in question..... The mayor still is asking the police and fire departments to make a 10% cut in their salary accounts, but he has not specified how they should achieve those savings.
Eric Rose, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Police Protective League, said Monday that because union leaders are currently negotiating for a new contract, they are "not in a position to talk about what they will or will not do in relation to shared sacrifice." The union initially characterized the mayor's proposal as a cut to public safety. ["Villaraigosa's $7.05-billion Budget calls for 10 % Cut to Personnel Costs," L.A. Times]
As for how some cuts might be made in firefighting expenses, see this Daily News article detailing a 60 percent rise in overtime costs for the L.A. Fire Department over the past decade, complete with a database on which you can check individual fire employees' overtime pay.
And the L.A. Weekly suggests looking harder at L.A.'s own City Council salaries. While they are now willing to take small pay cuts, why not "a real, painful cut of 25 to 50 percent to bring them in line with city council members in other cities, including New York and San Francisco." (Current L.A. council member salary is around $180,000 a year.)
The image associated with this post was taken by Flickr user BBCworldservice. It was used under user Creative Commons license.
