Los Angeles is in need of a bailout.
On March 3, Los Angeles City Controller Kenneth Mejia informed Mayor Karen Bass and the City Council that revenue for the current fiscal year was on track to fall “$140 million short of the adopted budget.” The “primary sources of shortfalls,” Mejia wrote, were “business taxes, sales taxes, and the City’s revenues from grants, licenses, permits fees and fines.”
The forecast for the fiscal year that begins on July 1 was no better. “Our best estimates are that revenues will actually decline slightly,” the controller wrote, and “that creates a huge challenge for the Mayor and City Council to confront in adopting a balanced budget” for fiscal year 2025-26.
Mejia ended his letter by telling city leaders that “any conceivable plan for a sustainable and equitable operating and capital budget must have broad-based support from community, labor, business and other vital stakeholders.”
Translation: there would be fierce pushback over any attempt to cut programs, lay off unionized city workers, raise taxes or fees on businesses, or tick off anybody else who is “vital” to keeping current office-holders in power.
What to do? The obvious answer: get the money from the state or federal government.
On March 24, Mayor Karen Bass and a delegation of City Council members went to Sacramento to plead for $2 billion. But the state budget is a mess, too, and the response from the Legislature was less than enthusiastic. Bass returned to the state capital on April 23rd and again begged for help to close the city’s nearly $1 billion deficit.
Alas, the rest of the state had little interest in bailing L.A. out of the problems caused by what the controller called “overspending.” City leaders had recklessly agreed to budget-busting labor contracts that will make Los Angeles gush red ink for years to come.
That left only the federal government as the source of a desperately needed bailout. But with COVID pandemic money gone and the Biden administration departed, the political landscape for bailouts was bleak.
But then, the Trump administration began to enforce federal law in Los Angeles. Mayor Bass rushed out a statement on June 6, the day federal immigration authorities began operations in the city and county of L.A. “We will not stand for this,” the mayor wrote.
Controller Kenneth Mejia also put out a statement on June 6, accusing the federal government of “laying siege” to Los Angeles and “terrorizing members of our community in coordinated and widespread ICE raids.” Mejia slammed the Los Angeles Police Department for its “presence at today’s raids” and vowed that he would be “assessing the impact that today’s activities have had on our city resources and your tax dollars.”
And then Los Angeles had riots. Or if you prefer, mostly peaceful protests.
By mid-June, the city’s total cost for the events, however they’re described, was estimated by the city administrative officer to be at least $19.7 million, including $11.7 million for police overtime. The damage to city buildings, including City Hall, totaled $780,601. And there’s liability. The LAPD has been sued in federal court by groups representing reporters who say their rights were violated.
On June 14, federal and state lawmakers representing the L.A. area joined Mayor Bass to demand an end to the “raids” by federal law enforcement officers. Congresswoman Norma Torres announced that she is “demanding full accountability and reimbursement for the local cost incurred, including injuries to local officers and damages caused by the chaos unleashed when the Trump administration recklessly deployed the military and ICE agents into our communities.” The federal government should pay, she said, because “they are the ones who created this.”
A bailout from Washington seems unlikely, but the City Council is considering a lawsuit against the federal government over the “unconstitutional” stops and arrests of city residents. Maybe that will be a jackpot. Probably not.
This week, Mayor Bass sent out an email urging Los Angeles residents to volunteer their time on Saturday to clean up litter and graffiti in the downtown area. She says she wants the city to “shine” for the World Cup and the Olympics.
Her resignation should be the first step of the clean-up effort.
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