The Brief

A recent warning about the state of city finances in Los Angeles struck a dire note.

“We will need to be vigilant in how we proceed,” cautioned Matt Szabo, the city administrative officer at a Budget and Finance Committee meeting last week. “Our reserves are getting dangerously close to the ... emergency level.”

The reasons why are detailed in a financial status report Szabo released late last month. It documents precarious city finances driven by a mix of dwindling revenues and some big unexpected expenses, including the costs of responding to the L.A. wildfires.

Another major over-expenditure: civil payouts.

The city of Los Angeles is expected to pay at least $320 million in settlements and judgments this fiscal year, which ends in June, according to the financial status report. That’s more than three and a half times the money budgeted for such risks.

Liability payouts — which settle claims and lawsuits against the city for wrongdoing, including internal staff harassment, police use of force and injuries — have been a considerable expense for many years. In the current fiscal year, the city has paid more than $37 million in just two cases — the LAPD bomb squad fireworks explosion that injured more than two dozen people and displaced residents for years, as well as a shooting in which an off-duty LAPD officer killed a mentally disabled man in another county.

LAist examined city checkbook data, made available online by the city controller’s office, to analyze all payments made for liability claims since fiscal year 2018.

Here’s what we found:

• The most recent yearly budget set aside $87 million to handle such payouts, an amount that has hardly changed in eight years.
• The city was over budget just two months into this fiscal year.
• Last fiscal year, payouts exceeded the budget within seven months.
  

Why it matters

This is the second year in a row the city’s overall budget has faced financial headwinds. Last year, for the first time since the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, overspending and low revenue led to the city’s reserve funds falling below minimum levels required by city policy. This winter, legal settlements and deferred maintenance costs drove up the city’s spending further, and those costs have continued to rise.

When the city overspends on liability payouts, money is taken from other funds, such as the general fund and reserve accounts, to cover those costs.

Making those transfers has larger implications:

• City policy is to maintain reserve funds of at least 5% of budgeted general fund receipts, and if the reserve fund goes below 2.75%, the City Council must vote and declare an “urgent economic necessity” to use the remaining funds from the Emergency Reserve Account.
• Currently, the city’s reserve fund is at 3.28%, a level Szabo described this month as “dangerously close” to emergency levels.
• If additional cost-saving measures aren’t taken, using the reserves to solve remaining overspending would reduce levels to 2.22%.

What we know about liability claims

The Los Angeles Police Department has the highest liability payouts of any city department, with $100 million in claims in fiscal year 2024, according to an LAist analysis of city checkbook data. The department with the next highest amount in payouts was public works, with $45 million in claims across the street services, sanitation and engineering bureaus.

An additional $106 million in fiscal year 2024 liability payouts reviewed by LAist were not associated with any specific department in city data.

“At the end of the day, every dollar that we spend on lawsuits is a dollar that we're not spending on making our neighborhoods safer,” Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky, chair of the Budget and Finance Committee, told LAist. “Whether it's LAPD or sidewalks or trip-and-falls, we really have to get ahead of the problem instead of paying for it much bigger on the back end.”

Yaroslavsky said the city needs to do more realistic and transparent budgeting while addressing the root causes of liability payouts. She said the city is “focused on solutions that reduce risk, improve public safety and protect city resources.” When it comes to the Police Department, Yaroslavsky said reforms include expanding the use of alternative response teams for mental health crises, as well as improving training and accountability practices.

City Controller Kenneth Mejia also shared concerns with LAist about addressing the root issues that lead to liability payouts, saying that if current trends continue, decreases in revenue combined with overspending could extend a citywide hiring freeze and cause service reductions. The city began its hiring freeze in January 2024, followed by cuts to over 1,700 positions last July, according to the controller’s office.

“This is the second year in a row where we budgeted high revenue amounts, and we're not reaching that amount,” Mejia said. “The city really needs to budget better, more conservatively and more realistically.”

L.A. Mayor Karen Bass, who proposes and signs the budget, did not respond to requests for comment.

Details of the payouts

The following accounts of the city's largest liability payments from fiscal year 2024 are based on court and federal documents. 

United States ex rel. Mei Ling v. City of L.A. — $38,659,715.21

A settlement was reached between the city and Mei Ling after what she claims was years of discrimination because of her disability, preventing her from finding affordable, accessible housing.

Tammy Murillo v. City of Los Angeles, et al. — $25,097,461.25

A district court jury found the city and two police officers liable for excessive force and battery, civil rights violations and negligence in the killing of Jesse Murillo, who was a 32-year-old Navy veteran.

Ismael Soto Luna v. City of Los Angeles, et al. — $10,500,000 (An additional $10,500,000 was paid in 2025.)

A settlement was reached between the city and Ismael Soto Luna after an L.A. County jury found the city liable for a streetlight in dangerous condition causing harm to Soto. The jury also found that this risk was foreseeable by the city, and the city had enough time to protect against such an incident.

Ruben Martinez et al v. City of Los Angeles et al — $8,000,000

A settlement was reached between the city and Ruben Martinez after prosecutors agreed that Martinez was wrongfully imprisoned for 12 years for five robberies.

Malcolm Thomas v. City of Los Angeles, et al. — $7,885,000

A settlement was reached between the city and Malcolm Thomas after what he claims was discrimination based on disability and retaliation while he served as a police officer and instructor at the Los Angeles Police Academy.

And here are the notable payments so far in 2025.

BD Impotex, LLC v. City of Los Angeles — $20,000,000

A settlement was reached between the city and residents of South L.A. after the detonation of illegal fireworks by the LAPD bomb squad. The explosion injured 27 people, including 18 civilians, and caused severe damage to homes and vehicles, according to a federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives report, causing some residents to be displaced.

Paula French, et al. v. City of Los Angeles, et al. — $17,700,000

A district court jury found that the city was liable for use of excessive force by an LAPD officer that caused the death of a mentally disabled man outside of a Costco in Corona and severely injured his parents.

How does approving the budget work?

Most city budget negotiations happen behind closed doors. Starting in the early fall, the L.A. mayor works with city department heads to figure out what the budget should look like. The mayor outlines her priorities, and department heads submit specific requests for consideration.

The mayor releases the official budget proposal in April. Then the City Council’s budget committee holds a series of hearings to discuss the proposal and listen to feedback from the public. The committee submits recommendations for changes.

The full City Council then has to vote on the proposed budget and the recommended changes. The approved budget takes effect on July 1, running through June 30 of the following year — this is what’s known as a “fiscal year.” Each fiscal year is referred to based on the year the budget ends. For example, the current budget year is 2025. It runs from July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025.

Keep an eye on your local government

The best way to keep tabs on your local government is by attending public meetings for your city council or local boards. Here are a few tips to get you started.

• Find meeting schedules and agendas: City councils usually meet at least twice a month, although larger ones may meet weekly. Committees and boards tend to meet less often, typically once a month. You can find the schedule and meeting agenda on your local government’s website, or posted physically at your local city hall. Find more tips here.
  
• Learn the jargon: Closed session, consent calendars and more! We have definitions for commonly used terms here.
  
• How to give public comment: Every public meeting allows community members to give comment, whether or not it’s about something on the agenda. The meeting agenda will have specific instructions for giving public comment. Review more details here.
  

LAist’s Brianna Lee contributed to this report.

An East Hollywood nursing home that nearly lost its license this year because of repeated state citations for deaths of residents at the facility was cited again last month after another person died.

The California Department of Public Health cited Brier Oak on Sunset after a 92-year-old resident bled to death on Sept. 27. Staff members had continued injecting her with blood thinners over a 40-hour period in violation of clinical guidelines.

It’s an AA citation, the most severe the department issues when violations of care standards are determined to be a substantial factor in someone’s death. The facility faces a $120,000 fine.

These kinds of citations are rare. The department has recently issued, on average, fewer than 20 AA citations yearly across more than 1,200 skilled nursing facilities in California.

Brier Oak has received three AA citations for patient deaths since late 2022.

State regulations require authorities to suspend or revoke the licenses of any facilities that get two AA citations within a period of 24 months.

The state Public Health Department began that process with Brier Oak in May based on resident deaths in 2022 and 2024. But officials dropped that effort later because they say they determined the two patient deaths had occurred 26 months apart — just outside of the two-year window.

A spokesperson for the company that owns Brier Oak told LAist it has appealed the first two citations and is considering whether to appeal the third.

Advocates for nursing home residents say the recent death could have been avoided if the state had taken action.

“There were red flags, and a lot of these red flags existed prior to the death of this poor resident,” said Tony Chicotel, senior staff attorney with  California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform.

The state said Brier Oak has until Dec. 19 to notify the department if it intends to appeal.

What led to the patient deaths?

In the recent death at Brier Oak cited by the state, multiple communication and technical failures by nursing staff led to the patient bleeding out over a period of 40 hours, according to the citation.

The 92-year-old patient was immobile and had been prescribed a blood thinner called heparin to help prevent blood clots from forming. But once a patient is bleeding, those injections make bleeding worse, and potentially fatal.

When nursing staff found bright red blood in the resident’s diaper the day before she died, Brier Oak failed to follow established processes for documenting the bleeding or communicating it to a nurse practitioner or medical doctor, according to the citation.

Nurses told state authorities they delayed informing physicians because they “get mad” when contacted in the middle of the night.

The facility’s staff also failed to fully assess the patient to determine the possible causes of the bleeding and or to properly monitor the issue during crucial periods, according to the citation.

She suffered four internal bleeding episodes over 40 hours and continued to receive blood thinner injections.

The citation says a nurse practitioner at Brier Oak told state licensing authorities later that if she’d been informed about the patient’s ongoing bleeding, she would have stopped the blood thinner and sent her to a hospital.

In 2022, Brier Oak received a AA citation after a 62-year-old woman died from respiratory failure in part because nurses hadn’t been trained to operate her breathing machine.

In 2024, the nursing home got another AA citation. This time, a 63-year-old woman with paraplegia and severe obesity fell from her bed and died while a nursing assistant was changing her. The assistant was alone, even though the woman’s care plan required two staff members.

Who owns Brier Oak?

Brier Oak on Sunset is primarily owned by Genesis Healthcare, a publicly-traded nursing home operator that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July.

Once the largest nursing home operator in the U.S., Genesis was facing billions in debt when it declared bankruptcy, according to court filings. That includes millions in potential damages from lawsuits related to patient care failures.

In a brief statement to LAist, a company spokesperson said it's still considering whether or not to appeal the recent citation at Brier Oak.

The citation should trigger a suspension or revocation of the facility's license, according to state regulations. The latter means it would have to close its doors. The two most recent deaths and citations at the facility occurred within the two-year window.

The California Department of Public Health confirmed it cited Brier Oak on Nov. 26.

The department said the facility submitted a required written response before a Dec. 6 deadline, showing how it will fix the problems and prevent them from happening again..

The department determined Brier Oak was back in compliance during an onsite visit last week, a representative told LAist.

Brier Oak on Sunset currently houses about 150 patients, according to state records.

A bankruptcy judge has stalled the proposed sale of Genesis Healthcare to an affiliate of one of its investors.

Experts say it’s unclear whether the state would revoke the license of an owner who is actively trying to sell and turn over operations to someone else.

It’s been a rough start to ski and snowboard season for California mountain towns. Snowfall is well below average, but Christmas could come with some of the white stuff. Here's where things stand:

Hmmm. Didn’t we just have a record storm?

Yes. That big atmospheric river that hit Southern California last month made it one of the wettest Novembers on records. But since then, it’s been unusually warm and dry, which is not good for mountain towns that depend on snow, and the outdoor enthusiasts that flock to them.

How bad is it?

California’s snowpack is about 20% of normal for this time of the year, according to the state’s snow-tracking website. Southern California isn’t quite as bad off — we’ve gotten about half our normal snowfall so far.

As for the resorts, only about 20% of the terrain at Bear Mountain in Big Bear is open. About 35% of Mammoth Mountain is open.

Can’t they just make snow?

They are, but the unusually warm temperatures have curbed resorts’ ability to make enough snow to open more terrain. “If you're blowing water into 40-degrees, it's going to stay water,” said Justin Kanton, a spokesperson for Big Bear Mountain Resort. “ So as much as people probably would want us to just crank the snow guns all day, every day up here and just get things moving, that's not really possible.”

But there’s a silver lining!

The dry weather has allowed Caltrans to make good progress toward opening Highway 38, said Evan Engle, who chairs the board of the Big Bear Chamber of Commerce. The road typically handles up to 40% of traffic up to the mountain town, Engle said. But it’s been closed since September when it got washed out by Tropical Storm Mario.

Getting it open as soon as possible is key to keeping visitor traffic manageable, and getting supplies to Big Bear.

What’s the snow outlook?

SoCal mountains are likely to see some precipitation around Christmas, said Kyle Wheeler, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. But with temperatures not expected to drop much, it’s uncertain how much of it will be white, Wheeler said.

If you go to Big Bear: 

• If you plan to hit the slopes, get on it early, when the snow is at its best given the warm conditions. 
• No snow? There’s more to do than ski and snowboard. Check this list of winter fun events.  
• Worried about traffic? Consider going up earlier in the week. If you can’t do that, consider taking Highway 18 through Lucerne Valley. It’s a longer route if you’re coming from L.A., but less traveled, and less likely to make you car sick (fewer tight curves). 

The Los Angeles Police Department used more than 2,400 crowd control munitions in response to protests from June 6 to 14, according to a new report.

Officers used a total of 2,431 less-lethal projectile rounds and 35 canisters of tear gas over the nine days, according to LAPD reports. The department recorded 12 injuries officers caused with those weapons.

The LAPD released the missing report last week after LAist identified the use of crowd control weapons on four different days in June that had not been reported according to state law. Assembly Bill 48, which went into effect in 2022, limits when and how crowd control weapons can be used, and requires law enforcement agencies to publicly release reports on their use within 60 days.

A 30-day extension for these reports can be granted in some cases, but the LAPD released this report about three months late even if an extension was justified.

Officials acknowledged they were out of compliance on Dec. 10 before releasing the report, saying the delay “stems from the extraordinary volume and complexity of incidents” over that time.

This report is different from others

It is unusual for a crowd control report to include more than one day, and the report for June 9 through 14 covered six days and “45 sepearte [sic] non categorical use of force incidents.”

It does not describe any of those use of force incidents specifically, and the LAPD has not yet responded to LAist’s request for more detailed descriptions of those incidents.

The report also considered the entire six days to have been one continuous protest, though it included several anti-ICE protests over the week and the national “No Kings” protest on June 14.

Two reports released earlier this year for June 6 and 8 covered single days and provided more detailed descriptions of incidents where the LAPD used less-lethal munitions against protesters.