Posted on 04/23/2025 6:24:07 AM PDT by george76
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said Monday the city faces an $800 million deficit, plans plans to lay off 1,647 staff, is seeking a state bailout and has “identified new revenue.”
Bass blamed the Trump administration and the economy for falling revenue.
...
With 61,455 employees, 1,647 layoffs equate to a workforce reduction of 2.7%. With just over $8.3 billion paid out in payroll last year, the city pays its employees an average of $135,355 per year, or more than double the median citywide salary of $57,247 per year.
This means the announced layoffs would only cover about a quarter of the at least $800 million deficit.
During her State of the City address Monday, Bass said she is traveling to Sacramento to seek a state bailout, but if the state is either unwilling or unable to fund such a bailout amid falling sales and corporate tax revenue and employment, more layoffs could be necessary.
“The city attorney and I will be in Sacramento this week to meet with legislative leaders and advocate for resources while also working to manage the increasing liabilities,” said Bass.
City Controller Kenneth Mejia has been warning the city is “going broke” since the middle of last year — the city’s budget was in crisis even before the January fires.
Mejia says the city’s revenue for the current fiscal year is expected to come in $140 million below projections, while spending is $300 million higher than expected.
Mejia estimates revenues for the coming fiscal year will be $79 million lower than the updated projections for the current year due to dampening economic projection due to tariffs and “pullback in entertainment industry.”
“The impact of remote work, automation, artificial intelligence and online sales will continue to erode traditional sources of City tax revenue,” wrote Mejia. “Federal grants (which significantly increased under the last Administration) are expected to drop given the winding down of previous COVID recovery funds and the uncertainty regarding federal funds from the new Administration.”
Bass’s budget proposes spending $13.92 billion against $13.95 billion in revenue, including $8.06 billion assumed in general receipts revenue. Should general receipts be $7.89 billion as expected by Mejia, the city would fall well short of its budget, necessitating further cuts.
I thought they burned down Los Angeles.
I thought they fired Bass from her going on vacation to Uganda when fires broke out.
It’s okay for the DemonRATS to lay off people but it’s not okay for President Trump to do it. Fascist communism has arrived and it was delivered by the national DemonRAT “media”.
Get rid of 40% of the lazy worthless un needed city workforce and no one would notice
Here’s yet another reason why the country dodged a bullet last November. Had Harris cheated her way to a win, billions of federal bailout money would now be flowing to LA and other D hellholes.
Huh, that’s a shame...
All the police to be laid off?
I will be pissed if my tax money pays a dime to that state in bailouts.
Electing someone that can’t count up to 20 without taking their shoes off is stupid
Meanwhile Newsom is asking for BILLIONS from the Federal government to bail out the state of California.
I wouldn’t give that dumb bitch a dime.
Well the democrats think they own all taxpayer money and can spend it all
The problem that so many of these Blue cities and states have is the millions of employees they have making huge salaries. Especially as they get near retirement.
When you read about LA lifeguards making $200K-400K annually you can’t hardly believe it.
Yet, this is happening all over in states like CA, IL, MA, NY, WA, NJ, etc.
It used to be working for the government was a low paying job, but you had good benefits and job security. Now, there are state government employees that have become multi millionaires at middle management jobs. Plus, they end up with pensions paying them 80% of their highest annual pay for the rest of their lives.
Obviously, these government employees become a huge voting block to keep the gravy train rolling. Plus, many of them are in unions. So, their dues go to supporting the Dem Pols who keep the cash flowing.
TWO Words: NO BAILOUT!
Quell surprise! Funny how the Democrats never make a bad policy decision. Even through they're in power and make all the policy decisions, it's a bad deus ex machina that makes the bad decisions.
Why is a city that is so rich always out of money?
Not a Dime of Federal Money!
I’ve read there will be substantial decrease in animal services funding.
You can expect a huge increase of dogs and cats being loose in neighborhoods. The ones that are captured will be immediately euthanized.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.