MAYOR GARCETTI PROPOSES 2022-2023 CITY BUDGET

The proposal makes historic investments in homelessness while maintaining the City’s largest-ever cumulative reserves 

Mayor Eric Garcetti today announced his proposed budget for the 2022-2023 fiscal year, a proposal that makes record-breaking investments in homelessness while maintaining the largest cumulative reserves in City history at 8.8%. 

The spending plan includes over $1 billion to address the homelessness crisis, the City’s largest-ever investment at $1.164 billion, which is more than 20 times the homelessness budget when Mayor Garcetti took office in 2013. The budget also shows a 6.6% increase in projected revenue from last year, an indication that the City is undergoing one of the strongest economic recoveries from the pandemic in the nation. 

“This spending plan is about more than doubling down on the improvements and solutions that Angelenos can see and feel in their daily lives – it’s about placing our City on a fixed course to stability, prosperity, and equity for generations to come,” said Mayor Eric Garcetti. “This proposal is both prudent and progressive – bold, but balanced. As Mayor, I’ve always tried to make decisions that keep an eye toward the future, and this budget is proof that we can make historic investments today while creating our most fiscally responsible budget yet.” 

The $1.164 billion proposed to tackle homelessness, the largest proposed investment by nearly $200 million, includes a total of over 3,700 permanent supportive housing units, $331 million for over 2,200 total housing units through Proposition HHH, and $255 million for a new round of Project HomeKey, which will add 928 permanent housing units.

To put the City in the best possible position for the years ahead, Mayor Garcetti has made fiscal responsibility a top priority throughout his tenure, and worked closely over the past year to ensure his final budget would deliver a stable and secure set of reserves to hand over to the next administration. The 8.8% in cumulative reserves would be the highest mark of all time, making the City more prepared to withstand any future economic challenges than at any time in its history.

The proposed budget calls for new public safety resources, including the hiring of 780 police officers and 260 firefighters. The spending plan would increase current spending on public safety alternatives by over 30%, with $8 million for CIRCLE, a program to divert nonviolent 9-1-1 calls related to homelessness to trained professionals; $2 million for the Therapeutic Transportation Van Pilot program; $37 million for the City’s Gang Reduction and Youth Development program; and $6.4 million for Saturday Night Lights, a program to reduce crime and violence during the summer months by offering free food, activities, and resources at City parks. 

Other key components of Mayor Garcetti’s budget include:

• $15 million for waste diversion and water resiliency improvements; 

• $12.4 million for electric vehicle purchases and leases, electric vehicle infrastructure, and charging infrastructure across the City;

• $10.5 million for the establishment of the two-part Climate Equity Fund to provide mitigation actions for low-income communities that disproportionately suffer from climate impacts

• $9.7 million for street safety improvements;  

• $4 million in cool pavement, doubling the City’s current investment; 

• $3.8 million to expand the City’s Clean and Green program;

• $3 million for Summer Play LA, which will provide low-cost summer camp programs at recreation centers;

• Nearly 800 additional sanitation workers, including more than 200 youth positions for the CleanLA program;  

• $2 million for tree planting in low-canopy neighborhoods.
  
  SOURCE: https://www.lamayor.org/mayor-garcetti-proposes-2022-2023-city-budget
  
  Ran in 05-12-2022 SBE Newspaper