What to Know
- Mayor Karen Bass released her proposed city of Los Angeles budget for Fiscal Year 2025-2026.
- The Los Angeles spending plan includes more than 1,600 layoffs and other efforts to reduce a nearly $1 billion deficit.
- Bass’ office said no sworn officers or firefighters will be among the layoffs.
- The budget plan requires approval from the City Council, which is scheduled to consider the $13.9 billion spending plan in June.
- Figures presented could change as budget discussions continue ahead of the start of the next budget year in July.
A quarter of the city employees who would be laid off under Mayor Karen Bass’ proposed budget are civilian employees with the Los Angeles Police Department.
The layoffs do not include sworn officers, but some Los Angeles City Council members said the civilian employee layoffs would be devastating to public safety. They plan to make their case to the public Wednesday at a midday news conference.
The layoffs would affect 403 civilian positions within the LAPD.
“The hard reality here is in Los Angeles we are already in the middle of a public safety crisis,” said Councilmember Traci Park. “If we lose those civilian positions, what that means is police officers would be pulled off the streets to cover work that should be done by civilian (employees).”
Civilian employee positions within the LAPD include forensic scientists, ballistics experts, crime scene photographers, cybersecurity technicians and people in the communications division, according to Park’s office. Park said the layoffs would come at a critical time for Los Angeles, which will host major world events in the coming years.
“We can’t continue to prepare for major world events like the World Cup next year, the Super Bowl after that and the Olympics in 2028 without the staff we need to do that,” Park said.
City officials are looking to potentially delay salary increases for city employees to cut costs. Conan Nolan reports for the NBC4 News at 6 p.m. on Thursday, March 20, 2025.
Park will be joined by councilmembers John Lee and Tim McOsker, and representative from the Los Angeles police union at the Wednesday news conference.
Bass unveiled a spending plan earlier this month for the city of Los Angeles that includes more than 1,600 layoffs, budget cuts and increases, the consolidation of municipal departments and other efforts to confront a nearly $1 billion deficit.
The Fiscal Year 2025-2026 proposed budget was released after the mayor addressed a broad range of challenges facing Los Angeles, including wildfire recovery, at her State of the City speech inside Los Angeles City Hall. The budget plan requires approval from the City Council, which is scheduled to consider the $13.9 billion spending plan in June.
The Los Angeles Police Department would receive an increase of $6.1 million to its nearly $2 billion operational budget. The city would retain about 20%, or 120, more officers compared to 2024.
🚨 MAYOR’S PROPOSED BUDGET 🚨
1,647 CITY EMPLOYEE LAYOFFS
TOP 5 DEPARTMENT LAYOFFS:
• LAPD-Civilians: 403
• Transportation: 262
• Sanitation: 159
• Street Services: 130
• Planning: 114WHY?
⬆️ Record-level liability payouts
⬆️ Increased payroll costs
⬇️ Revenue shortfalls pic.twitter.com/Wy7BuBIxWR— LA City Controller Kenneth Mejia (@lacontroller) April 21, 2025
The proposal would be an 8.2% increase over the 2024-2025 city budget.
Other departments affected by layoffs include transportation (262), sanitation (159), street services (130) and planning (114), according to the Los Angeles City Controller.
Figures and proposals presented could change as budget discussions continue ahead of the start of the next budget year in July.
Several departments would be consolidated under the proposal.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IByBlYFhmsQ
How did LA get here?
In March, a top financial city adviser told elected officials that the city’s grim outlook for FY 2025-26 will require tough decisions and could lead to thousands of layoffs. Bass directed the city’s Chief Administrative Officer to report to her with strategies to reduce spending significantly while protecting essential services.
Bass said her 2025-2026 budget proposal will “deliver fundamental change to the way the city operates.”
The city’s financial crisis has been exacerbated by the wildfires in Pacific Palisades that also impacted property tax and other tax revenues. Additionally, the city has been plagued with liability payouts that have tripled this year.
Federal trade and immigration policies have caused trouble for LA tourism, city officials say.
Labor contracts with the Los Angeles Police Department and unionized city employees — each amounting to $1 billion at the end of FY 2028-29 — have contributed to the city’s fiscal concerns. The contracts were approved in the last two years, which city officials said were necessary to ensure workers were compensated fairly and at a competitive rate.
A hundred days after the Palisades Fire, LA Mayor Karen Bass said the city is on track for the fastest wildfire recovery in state history. Karma Dickerson reports for the NBC4 News at 5 p.m. on Thursday, April 17, 2025.
As elected officials consider ways to increase revenues, some options may lead to higher taxes, fees, and other costs for taxpayers. The city is also considering bond measures to create revenue streams for specific needs, such as maintenance and construction of fire stations.
The City Council also recently approved a plan to increase trash collection fees, the first rate adjustment in 17 years. Elected officials are hoping to start the new fees by January 2026, but further approvals are required before the rate change can be enacted.
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