Antonio Villaraigosa wants L.A. departments to cut 3% from budget
In the wake of a $110-million gap in this year's spending, the mayor asks department heads to submit revised budgets by Dec. 1.
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa called today for an "emergency overhaul" of the city's budget, saying most city departments must cut 3% of their costs through the end of the fiscal year.
One day after the city's top financial expert proposed reductions to libraries, tree trimming and other services, Villaraigosa said "dramatic and immediate action" was now needed.
The mayor has asked department heads to submit new budgets by Dec. 1. A revised citywide budget will then be submitted to the council within 10 days, and Villaraigosa wants a vote on the matter no later than Dec. 31, said his spokesman Matt Szabo.
"This revised budget must adapt to our new fiscal realities and set a path for even tougher decisions for the budget year that begins July 1," Villaraigosa wrote today in a letter to the city's department heads. "It is no longer sufficient to delay purchases, cut travel and sweep savings from accounts."
Public safety agencies, including the police and fire departments, would see a new cut of only 1%, under the mayor's proposal.
The city needs to close a $110-million gap in this year's budget. Without the midyear cuts, the city could find itself with a shortfall of more than $500 million next summer, Szabo said.
City officials are especially worried that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will propose new cuts to cities and counties, precipitating another round of reductions.
Councilwoman Wendy Greuel, who serves on the city's Budget and Finance Committee, said the mayor and council members are trying to communicate the seriousness of the city's financial plight.
"The message we're sending is that we're serious about this budget deficit, that this is unlike any budget year we've had in my recent memory," she said.
Department heads have already been instructed to prepare a trio of budget-cutting scenarios for 2009-10, including one that assumes cuts of up to 9%.
"That would just decimate the department," said Jon Kirk Mukri, general manager of the Department of Recreation and Parks, who said his agency would eliminate paddle boats at MacArthur Park and various festivals if such cuts were needed.
Greuel voiced her own doubts about one budget-cutting plan: eliminating $1 million for school crossing guards.
"It should not be the first thing that we put on the chopping block," she said.
Zahniser is a Times staff writer
David.zahniser@latimes.com
