Today Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa revealed his budget plan for the City of Los Angeles, and while it did not include layoffs, it did include furloughs. "In an effort to close a $457.5 million deficit, the mayor is calling for 26 furlough days for city workers who will not get cost-of-living raises as part of their contracts, and 36 furloughs days for employees scheduled to get raises," explains the Daily News. more ›

Snatching cell phones from state employees was Gov. Jerry Brown's first executive decision on Tuesday, reports the San Francisco Chronicle. Brown ordered state agency and department heads to repo half of the approximately 96,000 state-issued devices "currently in public employees' hands." At an average of $36 a month Brown believes the effort can save California at least $20 million a year. more ›

A detailed and easy to use 'budget balancer' is ready for your thoughtful and frugal fingers to attempt a red-ink elimination from the California budget. Says the L.A. Times, "The state's budget shortfall for the rest of this fiscal year and next, estimated to be $28 billion, is the size of the total general fund budget of 12 states combined: Delaware, Idaho, Maine, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont and West Virginia." That's so a dare. more ›

As soon as the new legislature is sworn in up in Sacramento next month, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger intends to put everyone to work on resolving California's staggering budget deficit. more ›

It's bigger...and badder...than we thought. No, it's not another Transformers movie. "The Legislative Analyst's Office projects that the state's looming deficit is $25.4 billion, much larger than legislative leaders had anticipated," reports the Sacramento Bee's Capitol Alert. At noon today, the LAO is expected to post their full report, which "will shed light on how bad next year's budget hole will be [...] and whether the economic forecast is likely to provide relief for the state's fiscal woes in coming years," said Capitol Alert earlier today, when the projected deficit was a mere $12 billion. more ›

Los Angeles budget officials today reported an increase in the city's budget deficit. "The 2009-10 Budget deficit is now estimated at $222.4 million," a report released today said. The new number, which was previously $212 million, is based on $36.8 million in savings, the unexpected $26 million in increased property tax revenue and the loss of, thanks to a standoff over the controversial carbon surcharge rate hike, $73.5 million power revenue transfer from the LADWP. If that transfer would happen, the deficit would be reduced to $148.9 million. more ›

Councilman Eric Garcetti thinks that's an actual possibility. In a comment he left on LA Weekly's website, he said "Our work in February and March has resulted in further real savings that will total about $50-$65 million more by the end of June (end of our fiscal year). Combined with slightly better property tax receipts, we will be able to meet our obligations for this year. Nevertheless, I hope the DWP gives the transfer to the residents of the city that they promised to just two months ago. Combined with the actions we have taken and the slight revenue uptick, we could land at the end of the year about $80-$100 million in the black." Not bad! But as the Weekly notes, on July 1st when the new fiscal year begins, we start off with a projected $485 million deficit. more ›

If this fiscal year isn't bad city coffers--a $212 million deficit, prompting major cuts and thousands of layoffs--let's look at next year's, which begins on July 1st and has a projected $484 million shortfall. Add to that today's news from City Controller Wendy Greuel who says the coming year will be even more brutal in her economic forecast for 2010-2011. more ›

A mid-year budget report addressed to Mayor Villaraigosa and the Los Angeles City Council last Friday evening had sobering, but not surprising news. Los Angeles is in deep financial trouble and it's going to take years to get out of it. more ›

With a $98-million deficit still on the books for this fiscal year--a $408 million shortfall is predicted next year--Los Angeles city officials are likely going to be looking at more ways to balance the budget. In the past, we've all experienced these cuts with higher parking meter rates, more expensive parking tickets and the continuing loss of city services as 2,400 employees retire early with positions not being replaced, to name a few. more ›

In about six months time, the city of Los Angeles is going to be leaner, but not necessarily meaner. Faced with a $400-million plus budget deficit this past summer, the Los Angeles City Council embarked on a budget-saving plan to let thousands retire early. What does that mean? In a City Council meeting last week, the city's Personnel head Maggie Whelan compared the Early Retirement Incentive Program to the city looking like Swiss cheese with the holes previously filled by "sometimes the most people critical to our operation." more ›

Billions taken healthcare and education, a 32 percent hike under consideration in the University system, the list could go on. The big question is, after this year, what more is there to cut? more ›

Although the L.A. City Council yesterday voted to move forward with cutting close to 1,000 jobs, many through layoffs, and making employees take 26 days off through furloughs, they still plan to negotiate a deal with a union to avoid such action. The council called their move a safety net, buying time so they can find a way to avoid the job cuts and furloughs while still eliminating a $405-million budget deficit. more ›

Facing a $405-million budget deficit, Mayor Villaraigosa earlier this summer asked city employees to share the sacrifice. A major deal was struck with civilian union employees by letting 2,400 employees retire early within five years. That plan needed City Council approval and with months of no action, things have changed. more ›

We still don't have a budget as of this moment, but Governor Arnold Scwharzenegger says there is a "good shot" of the deficit deal being approved today, he told reporters this afternoon. Meanwhile, the California Democratic Party today filed a complaint about Schwazenegger's ad (seen above) about the budget. The ad is officially done under the auspices of a political committee, but Democrats allege it violates law. more ›

Following up on an LAist story published last week, the San Jose Mercury News spoke to Governor Schwarzenegger's office about a letter from the National Park Service to the state about closing parks. In that letter, Pacific regional director Jon Jarvis, informed Schwarzenegger that closing some 69 parks that received funding in the past jeopardized all future funding and that a handful of parks deeded to the state from the feds, including part of Point Mugu near Malibu, could be repossessed. more ›

Both legislative houses met today to vote on the a budget revision aiming to fix a $24 billion deficit with no success. Out of 20 bills, only one was voted on and it failed. While Assembly Budget Chair Noreen Evans mentioned the State Parks fee idea, none of the two questions regarding them were addressed. Traci Verardo-Torres of the California State Parks Foundation's told LAist she wasn't sure "if state parks have lived another day or state parks have lived to be fought over for another day. As far as we're concerned, were still fighting to keep our parks open." State Controller John Chiang said today he will start issuing IOUs as payment for bills starting July 2nd if a solution is not quickly found. more ›

Thousands of teachers are still going to lose their job at the end of the month, but at least 500 of them are saved. "Many of the teachers who were at risk of losing their jobs, as well as their supporters, camped out overnight at LAUSD headquarters in downtown L.A. to protest the proposed layoffs," says CBS2, who received the layoff information from LAUSD Superintendent Ramon Cortines exclusively. more ›

Come June 15th--that's just 13 days from now--the state of California could be a path to having no money, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger told the legislature yesterday. Tough choices lie ahead, such as those we've been hearing about since last week like the cutting of most all state parks and all of welfare. He's urging lawmakers to pass those budget proposals within the next two weeks, a short time to solve a $24 billion deficit. more ›

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's latest budget proposal suggest eliminating welfare. If that would happen, California would be the only state without such a program. "You would think they would legalize weed before this," quipped Shane Hirschman, a multimedia designer, on Twitter. more ›

The economy is worse than anyone could predict. It's so bad, the budget passed--just a few weeks ago--is already falling short $8 billion because of it. more ›

"People think show business was in Hollywood, but I think [Ronald] Reagan was absolutely right," Schwarzenegger said on 60 Minutes last night. "If he wouldn't have the training in acting, this would have been a very difficult job." Did the ability to act help bring the state to a $40 billion budget gap, too? more ›

Budget, schmudget. According to the Daily News, despite our state's whopping "$42 billion budget hole" that is spawning "severe cuts to state programs and possibly layoffs" the folks hammering out the budget still get $173 a day "on top of their $116,208 annual salaries" for, you know, incidentals like parking and lunch and hotel laundry services. more ›

This is what's being predicted for California: a $14.8 billion deficit by June 30--then $41.8 billion by 2010, according to revenue forecasts by the state Department of Finance. The LA Times wraps it nicely in their deck: "Unless legislators take control, gap could become the largest in modern California history, analysts say. But a solution seems unlikely as Gov. Schwarzenegger scolds lawmakers for failing to act." more ›

Members of a Los Angeles City Council committee took 50 hours to deliberate, but finally put their stamp of approval on a $7 billion budget for the city. more ›

In light of ongoing news about the city's budget crisis (a predicted $295 million dollar deficit), information about the number of people employed by the city who earn more than $100,000 is not sitting well with some. more ›