Los Angeles Looks At Cutting 2,000 Vacant Positions To Close Massive Budget Deficit

The Los Angeles City Council will soon consider eliminating 2,000 vacant jobs and reducing funds allocated toward public works programs, such as sanitation and street lighting, because midway through the current fiscal year city departments have overspent $288.56 million.

Chief Administrative Officer Matthew Szabo has also recommended that the city curtail spending on capital and infrastructure projects and increase fees for services such as sewer maintenance and trash pickup to offset the deficit.

The recommendations approved by a city committee on Wednesday will now go before the city council, likely in April, for a vote. The mayor then implements the plan for the 2024-25 fiscal year budget.

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What jobs are at risk of being eliminated?

According to the L.A. Mayor Karen Bass’ office, some of the vacant positions that will be eliminated have not been filled for multiple years and public safety and public health positions, such as police officers and sanitation workers, will not be affected.

But City Controller Kenneth Mejia says eliminating 2,000 city jobs comes at a time when L.A. departments are already understaffed.

“We've been understaffed for a while. Our hiring process takes a long time. And one out of every six city jobs are unfilled,” Mejia said.

The elimination of the vacant jobs will affect every department in the city, he added, warning that when the cuts happen, “there will be burnout, there'll be higher OT (overtime) costs, frustration.”

But Szabo said the need to make up the deficit will require departments to hold off on hiring to generate savings, saying “in a perfect world, departments would solve their own deficits.”

How will this affect city services?

Mejia said the reduction of funds toward sanitation and street lighting could affect tree trimming and the repair of sidewalks and potholes.

But the mayor’s office says the city provided 100,000 more services last year compared to 2022.

“Predictions that city services will be impossible to deliver as a result of not filling already vacant positions are simply false," said Zach Seidl, the mayor’s deputy mayor of communications.

Why are these measures necessary?

Szabo said in a report to the Budget, Finance and Innovation Committee that the recommendations were necessary as the city's overspending level for the year 2023-24 is at $288.56 million. The majority of that spending was on the Los Angeles police and fire departments, as well as liability claims.

The city is also experiencing a decline in projected tax revenues, particularly from business sales, hotels and short term rentals, and property sales.