Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, laying the political groundwork for his inaugural budget, painted a bleak picture of city finances Wednesday -- warning of a deficit that could reach $271 million even as he pledged to hire more police.
That amount is much higher than previous estimates and could grow significantly as the city negotiates new labor contracts with public safety workers and others.
Although Villaraigosa's full budget won't be unveiled until next month, the popular mayor's deficit pronouncement signaled the start of what could be a contentious period in which he faces his first real challenge from organized labor -- his traditional power base -- while wrestling with economic forces beyond his control.
Indeed, union officials were quick to accuse the mayor of overstating the city's financial woes.
Blaming his predecessors for creating much of the deficit, Villaraigosa said that he did not envision layoffs but that some services covered by his nearly $4-billion general fund budget could be reduced to make City Hall more efficient. He offered no specifics.
Sounding like a fiscal conservative, he promised to end what he described as quick-fix solutions used by past administrations to fill budget holes and vowed to eliminate within five years the shortfall he inherited.
But putting Los Angeles back on sound financial footing could be tricky as economists forecast a softening in several key revenue sources, including property taxes. The mayor has said in the past that he would not rule out proposing a tax increase -- although he said nothing of that Wednesday.
"We're committed to putting L.A. on a new path, one that will lead to true fiscal accountability and truth in budgeting," he told a City Hall news conference. "I'm committing today [that] the budget-busting practices of the past will be history."
Villaraigosa's full budget will afford him an opportunity to articulate his priorities, some of which he signaled Wednesday.
He said he would make good on a campaign pledge to hire more police officers. And he said the Fire Department, street services and efforts to reduce traffic congestion would figure prominently in his plans. Again he offered no specifics.
The budget poses political risks for Villaraigosa, who must walk a delicate line between championing his traditional base and demonstrating that, in the name of fiscal austerity, he can fend off union demands for pay increases.
