The Los Angeles City Council signed off on a $15 billion budget for 2026-27 on Thursday, keeping Mayor Karen Bass’ police hiring plan in place while freeing up more money for potential emergencies.
The council voted 12 to 1 to approve Bass’s spending plan, which called for the hiring of 510 Los Angeles Police Department officers to offset resignations and retirements. By June 2027, the department is expected to have 8,555 officers, down from nearly 10,000 in 2020.
Councilwoman Traci Park cast the lone dissenting vote, saying the budget shortfall is changing the fire department and reducing the number of homeless people clearing the encampment 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 failing homelessness costs — all while City Hall continues to underinvest in the basic services people rely on to stay 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 take a second look at fire personnel after the Nov. 3 election, when voters take up a sales tax increase to pay for fire department operations.
Councilor Eunisses Hernandez defended the spending plan, saying it provides much-needed money for road repairs, tree trimming, unarmed emergency response teams and a “safe parking” program, which sets aside spaces and services for homeless people living in their cars.
“We are investing money that shines a light on the road so that the whole area is not left in the dark,” he said.
Thursday’s series of budget votes provided a stark contrast to last year’s debates, in which council members sought to eliminate a $1 billion deficit while reducing city employee layoffs.
Meanwhile, council members are putting more money into the city’s reserves, in part in an effort to get better borrowing terms for the Convention Center development.
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 in bonds for the project. Even a small difference in interest rates can turn into tens of millions of dollars in savings, he said.
“This budget sends a signal that the city of Los Angeles takes our financial responsibilities and our future seriously,” Yaroslavsky said.
The council received some good news earlier this week, when businessmen promised to drop their ballot proposal to end the large receipts tax. That measure, if approved, would have cost the city an average of $860 million annually over five years, creating deep cuts to city services.
Bass proposed a surprise budget last month, which largely avoided new investments or cuts. The plan called for staffing to remain the same in the police and fire departments, while strengthening the installation of “curb cuts” – wheelchairs on sidewalks at intersections.
The budget provides for a slight rollback of the police recruitment program, allowing up to 25 people per class of the Police Academy during the first half of the fiscal year and up to 50 per class during the second half of the fiscal year.
Council members also slightly increased the budget for Inside Safe, the mayor’s signature anti-homelessness program. They also allocated R1.5 million to Represent LA, which provides legal representation to residents facing deportation or other immigration proceedings.
The council, at the request of Councilor Hugo Soto-Martínez, asked city budget analysts to issue a report on whether the program could be increased to $2.5 million in the coming months.
