The Budget and Finance Committee voted unanimously Thursday to adopt an amended report from the City Administrative Office (CLA) making targeted restorations to the mayor’s proposed fiscal 2025–26 budget and directing follow-up analyses and special studies.

The committee’s amended package reduces the proposed workforce cuts, restores funding for selected public-safety and sanitation services, and redirects several funding streams to cover programs for people experiencing homelessness, immigrant integration services and street outreach. The committee also lowered the recommended general-fund reserve to five percent, authorized limited one‑time draws from the city’s stabilization fund and instructed multiple departments to return with implementation reports.

Why it matters: the CLA report and the committee’s changes set the city’s starting point for final council action on the fiscal 2025–26 budget. Committee members said the package tries to balance service preservation with structural budget constraints while creating discrete follow‑up tasks for departments where more detail is needed.

Key decisions and program-level outcomes
- Restorations and public safety: The committee directed restorations that preserve many sanitation and public‑safety functions the mayor’s proposal had reduced. The CLA’s revisions, as amended, restore roughly 77 positions tied to sanitation and maintain school‑crossing guard staffing. The committee added new one‑time funding to address firefighter equipment and vehicle needs within the CLA adjustments.

- Fire department funding: The CLA’s revised figures included substantial additions for firefighters, including equipment and vehicle replacement. Committee members asked the CLA and the Fire Department to return with a prioritized list of positions and purchases that would be funded by the adopted adjustments and any follow‑up funding requests.

- Police hiring and overtime: The committee confirmed the CLA analysis that the mayor’s proposal reduces sworn‑officer recruit classes and delays hiring. Restoring all sworn and nonsworn positions would require tens of millions of dollars; the committee restored a portion of nonsworn positions but left structural reductions in place. Separately, the committee voted to reallocate $3.0 million out of the police overtime fund to support a citywide street outreach team focused on high‑need homeless encampments (discussed below).

- Homelessness and shelter funding: The committee directed reassignment of certain interim housing funds and instructed the CLA and the Housing Department to create a homelessness board within the Housing Department to coordinate restored services. The committee discussed a $13 million pool of interim‑housing-related funds (referred to in the meeting as funds currently held in a city reserve) and did not adopt a blanket transfer; one proposal to move a portion back into operating budgets failed on a roll call.

- Care/Care Plus (street cleaning/outreach) and ABH teams: Committee members reviewed the CLA’s changes to street‑cleaning and outreach teams. The package preserves 17 dedicated “special regional” Care/Care Plus teams (one per district plus two citywide regional teams). The committee approved a $3.0 million reallocation from police overtime to create or designate at least one citywide team focused on high‑need locations (often referred to in the meeting as ABH or chronic encampment sites). Members asked sanitation staff to return with operational details about team deployment and how district coverage will be preserved.

- Descarbonization/construction sustainability funding: The committee discussed a CLA recommendation to preserve approximately $3.0 million of the city’s descarbonization funds (part of a larger multi‑year program). Engineering staff told the committee some descarbonization components are already in active contracts or construction and that fully removing funding could delay projects and increase costs; the committee held the item as part of the adopted package, with instructions to identify which discrete components must be funded in 2025–26 to avoid project delays.

- Revenue and fee adjustments: The CLA’s revisions include proposed revenue adjustments (parking receipts, business taxes, and modest fee changes) to help offset restorations. Committee members pressed staff for detail on the timing and legal constraints for several proposed fee changes and franchise recapture proposals and instructed departments to return with additional legal and financial analysis where needed.

- Department consolidations and staffing transfers: The committee debated several proposed consolidations of city programs and departments (including a mayoral proposal to consolidate selected workforce, youth and development offices). The committee voted to require departments to provide consolidated impact analyses and stakeholder outreach plans before consolidations proceed and set target dates for follow‑up reporting.

Follow‑up instructions and studies
The committee adopted a set of implementation instructions, including: quarterly reports from personnel on hiring and staffing; a request to Finance to review the city’s investment portfolio for possible redesignations to reduce obligations; a study of franchise renegotiations and legal risks; and special studies on consolidation impacts and homeless‑services procurement timelines. Several instructions direct departments to return to the committee with operational plans before any further budget execution.

Votes at a glance
- Use of CDBG funds and general‑fund swap to support survivor services and create a $1.0M Represent LA line: Motion passed (five in favor; members recorded in roll call as Gersonsky/ Yorovsaski, Bloom(en)field/Plumenfield, Jad/Plumenfield variants, McOsker/McCusker, Hernández). The committee reduced a general‑fund allocation and created a $3.486M consolidated line in the CLA package, then created a separate $1.0M line for “Represent LA” using the swap.

- Reallocate $3.0M from police overtime to citywide outreach team (Care/Care Plus / ABH focus): Motion passed unanimously (5–0). The committee directed sanitation and LAPD staff to report on operational deployment and impacts to district coverage.

- Restore engineering positions (three positions; no net new general‑fund cost): Motion passed (5–0). The committee accepted staff assurances that those positions can be restored using existing special‑fund balances.

- Use of Measure R funds (up to $5.5M identified) to restore resurfacing/preservation crews: Motion passed (5–0). The committee accepted a partial use of Measure R preservation funds while directing the CLA and CEO to track capital trade‑offs.

- Restore a senior coordinator in the Innovation/Performance office (no new ongoing funding): Motion passed (5–0).

- Direct Finance to review investment portfolio and report options to redesignate portions to meet obligations: Motion passed (5–0).

- Adopt the CLA report as amended (final action): Motion passed unanimously (5–0). Committee members recorded support at roll call and the chair closed the hearing after thanking staff and departments.

What committee members said
Committee members repeatedly said the goal of the amendments was to protect core services and avoid layoffs where possible while keeping the city on a path to a structurally balanced budget. Members pressed staff on timelines for procurement and contracts, the feasibility of redeploying franchise‑related revenues, and the legal questions surrounding use of certain special funds.

What’s next
The committee’s amended CLA report will be forwarded to the full council for consideration. Multiple departments were instructed to return with more detailed analyses and operational plans before final budget adoption. Several items — including the precise deployment plan for citywide outreach teams, the engineering project funding schedule, and the legal analysis of franchise renegotiation revenues — were set for follow‑up and additional committee hearings.

Ending note
Committee members thanked CLA staff, department managers, police and fire leadership, sanitation and engineering staff, and interpreters for their work during extended hearings. The committee chair closed the meeting after unanimous adoption of the amended CLA report and a series of implementation instructions.