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Mayor Karen Bass this week signed a nearly $15 billion Los Angeles budget. The public ceremony came less than a week before the June 2 primary, so voters saw the mayor’s priorities in ink and in front of cameras. The big numbers are meant to show progress. The real question is whether taxpayers will see results.
What Mayor Bass actually signed
The adopted plan runs about $14.9 billion, roughly $750 million more than last year — a 5.3% increase. The City Council approved it 12–1, with Councilmember Traci Park as the lone dissenting voice. The package keeps a Reserve Fund at about $489.4 million and lists roughly $14.33 million in cuts across departments to help balance the books.
Where the money is aimed
The budget directs money to basic city services: public works, street repairs, sidewalk fixes, parking enforcement and a handful of homelessness programs. It keeps the police hiring plan intact and shows the LAPD at roughly $3.53 billion and the fire department at about $939.5 million. The mayor also touted plans to repair 700 lane miles and fix or replace 60,000 streetlights — the kind of projects voters notice when they drive at night or step off a curb.
Politics, promises, and a few warning signs
Mayor Bass used the signing to tout falling street homelessness and a drop in homicides, and those are good headlines. But critics are right to ask whether the budget leans on optimistic revenue forecasts. Taxpayer advocates warn the city has overestimated revenue before, and Councilmember Park warned some fire investments were deferred. Signing a balanced budget on paper is one thing; making sure the money actually fixes neighborhoods and keeps firefighters and officers ready is another.
Bottom line: applause won’t pave the streets
This budget is a campaign tool and a spending plan rolled into one. Voters should like the attention to sidewalks, lights and hiring officers. But they should also demand clear, measurable results and ask for real accountability when revenue falls short. A budget that looks balanced at a press conference still needs to pay for trash trucks, fire engines and the basics of public safety — not just good photo ops. If it can’t, Angelenos will be the ones left to clean up the mess.
