The Los Angeles City Council on Thursday signed off on a $15 billion budget for 2026-27, preserving Mayor Karen Bass’ police hiring plan while carving out more money for potential emergencies.
The council voted 12-1 to approve Bass’s spending plan, which called for hiring 510 Los Angeles Police Department officers to compensate for resignations and retirements. By June 2027, the department is expected to have 8,555 officers, down from about 10,000 in 2020.
Council member Traci Parks cast the only opposing vote, saying the budget slashed the fire department and cut the number of homeless encampment cleanups in her district, which stretches from Los Angeles International Airport north to Pacific Palisades.
“This budget asks Angelenos to accept slow emergency response, dirty beaches and more failed homelessness spending — while City Hall continues to underinvest in the basic services people rely on to keep them safe,” said Park, whose district includes Pacific Palisades, where thousands of homes were destroyed in the 2025 Palisades fire.
The mayor and council plan to revisit firefighter staffing after the Nov. 3 election, when voters will pass a sales tax increase to pay for fire department operations.
Council Member Eunice Hernandez defended the spending plan, saying it provides much-needed funding for sidewalk repairs, tree trimming, unarmed crisis response teams and the “Safe Parking” program, which sets aside spaces and services for homeless people living in their vehicles.
“We are investing in solar-powered street lights so that entire neighborhoods are not left in darkness,” he said.
Thursday’s flurry of budget votes presented a stark contrast from last year’s deliberations, when council members struggled to eliminate a $1 billion shortfall while minimizing cuts to the city’s workforce.
This time, council members put more money into the city’s reserves, partly in an effort to secure better borrowing terms for the convention center upgrade.
City Council member Katy Yaroslavsky, who heads the powerful budget committee, said lenders and bond rating agencies will be watching closely as the city prepares to issue $1.8 billion of bonds for that project. He said that even a small difference in interest rate can translate into savings of millions of dollars.
“This budget sends a signal that the City of Los Angeles is taking our fiscal responsibilities and our future seriously,” Yaroslavsky said.
The council got some good news earlier this week, with business leaders promising to withdraw their ballot proposal to repeal the gross receipts tax. If the measure were approved, the city would have lost an average of $860 million per year over five years, leading to deep cuts to city services.
Bass proposed a hold-the-line budget last month, mostly avoiding new investments or cuts. The plan called for keeping the number of staff in the police and fire departments roughly the same, while expediting the installation of “curb cuts” – wheelchair ramps on sidewalks at intersections.
The budget offers a gradual increase in the police recruitment plan, allowing for approximately 25 recruits per police academy class during the first half of the fiscal year and 50 recruits per class during the second half of the fiscal year.
Council members also slightly increased the budget for Inside Safe, the mayor’s signature program to combat homelessness. And he allocated $1.5 million to Represent LA, which provides legal representation to residents facing deportation or other immigration proceedings.
The council, at the request of Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez, asked city budget analysts to prepare a report on whether the program could be increased by $2.5 million in the coming months.
