The mayor’s budget proposal could change LA. Here’s where the cuts would hit the hardest

The 1,647 layoffs and major cuts in L.A. Mayor Karen Bass' budget proposal would hit some city departments harder than others, according to an analysis by LAist.

Matt Szabo, the City Administrative Officer, said the cuts are intended to save over $100 million.

Facing a historic budget shortfall, it’s clear the city needs to change its spending. But the cuts are not uniform. Some departments will bear the brunt of these cost saving measures while others appear, at least on the surface, to be getting a bump in funding.

Elected officials say the layoffs could greatly reduce services Angelenos receive and end up costing the city even more in the long run. Some are proposing alternatives to avoid the most painful cuts proposed by the mayor.

Such a drastic change in L.A. city government is hard to understand just by looking at the proposals alone, so LAist crunched the numbers and visualized exactly where these cuts will be felt the most.

Who could be laid off and what it means for Angelenos

The mayor’s proposed budget reduces staffing at most city departments, with the largest number of cuts targeting transportation, police, street services, sanitation and general services departments.

Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell told the City Council that layoffs at LAPD would force police officers to cover tasks previously handled by civilian staff and ultimately endanger public safety.

Laura Rubio-Cornejo, general manager for the Department of Transportation, told the City Council the proposed budget would jeopardize road safety programs.

City Controller Kenneth Mejia told LAist the layoffs would be “devastating and very disruptive not only to the city employees being laid off, but to all city departments, and all Angelenos who rely on city services and resources.” Meija added that the layoffs would be inequitable because they target lower-salaried positions and newer city employees.

Departments that could be hit the hardest

Some city departments — like those for disability, civil rights and city planning — could each lose about 40% of their staffing under the new budget.

The proposed budget eliminates 10 positions from the Department on Disability, which had 25 regularly budgeted positions in fiscal year 2025. They could also lose one of their five temporary staff positions.

This department helps to ensure that the city complies with state and federal disability laws and provides services directly to residents with disabilities, said department spokesperson Ashley Rodriguez.

Rodriguez told LAist a 40% cut in staffing would put severe limitations on accessibility training, contract procurement and other department services. Harm reduction programs contracted through the AIDS Coordinator’s Office at the department have helped reverse more than 2,800 overdoses and removed more than 1 million used syringes from city streets, she said, but these services face the deepest proposed cuts.

Not only would residents receive fewer services, the cuts could end up costing the city even more. L.A. relies on the Department on Disability to monitor compliance with federal and state disability laws. Rodriguez said the proposed cuts would reduce the department’s capacity to fix issues before they lead to lawsuits.

The most costly liability settlement paid by the city in fiscal year 2024 was for alleged discrimination based on the disability of a woman who was seeking accessible, affordable housing, costing the city more than $38 million.

Rodriguez said that over the past 15 years, the city has paid nearly $2 billion for disability-related settlements.

Stephen Simon, executive director of the department, said at a budget hearing on April 2 that the proposed cuts would dismantle a shield the city relies on to avoid more lawsuits like these.

“No other department has been asked for a higher percentage of regular position eliminations,” Simon said. “It represents not only an insurmountable barrier to the city coming into better compliance with federal and state law, but an outright roadblock to people with disabilities participating in public and civic life in Los Angeles.”

Naomi Roochnik, spokesperson for Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez, who sits on the budget and finance committee, said City Council members are looking for ways to avoid cuts to the disability department.

“When we cut positions that help avoid multimillion dollar settlements, we’re not actually saving money — we’re setting ourselves up to spend even more,” Roochnik said.

Cuts to department funding

Along with position cuts, the proposed budget includes cuts to the funding of most departments. Here are some of the largest budget reductions:

• General Services — $43.8 million (17%)
• Bureau of Street Services — $39.4 million (19%)
• City Planning — $15.3 million (21%)
• Information Technology Agency — $13.7 million (14%)
• Transportation — $13.2 million (6%)

Some smaller departments have an even larger proportion of their budgets cut:

• Youth Development — 31% 
• Civil, Human Rights and Equity— 26%
• City Planning — 21%
• Disability — 20%
• Neighborhood Empowerment — 20%
• Bureau of Street Services — 19%

The Youth Development Department, which shows the largest proportional cut in funding, would no longer be its own department under the proposed budget. Instead, the departments of youth development, aging and economic workforce development will all be consolidated into the Community Investment for Families Department (CIFD).

Deputy Mayor Matt Hale said at a budget hearing that the consolidation would “save at least $5 million in direct salary costs” and result in better outcomes.

Councilmember Monica Rodriguez doesn’t agree with the move.

In a letter to the budget and finance committee on April 28, Rodriguez said young people in L.A. should have a department that “wholly focuses on their needs.” Instead of consolidating the department, she said it should be expanded to take on the Gang Reduction and Youth Development program that is currently part of the mayor’s office.

Not everyone is getting a cut

The proposed budget would give some city departments and offices more money than last year, including:

• City Administrative Officer  — 18%
• Fire — 13%
• Controller — 11%
• Ethics Commission — 10%
• Housing — 9%
• Mayor — 6%
• Council — 6%
• City Attorney — 5%

Mejia said some departments have higher budgets than last year due to increased payroll costs, yearly cost of living or wage adjustments or increases in expense accounts.

Szabo added that new programs or shifting funds from one department to another also could lead to increases.

For the administrative officer, for instance, money for unarmed crisis response that had previously been taken out of unappropriated funds was allocated to Szabo’s office. This appears as an increase of 18% to the office’s total budget, but spokesman Ben Ceja says that the office would actually have 10% of their funding and 11% of staffing cut by the proposed budget.

What Angelenos are saying

Mejia told LAist that he has heard from people who are concerned about the effects layoffs will have on city services, and that the city is not being held accountable for liability payments or department overspending.

Individual departments face few, if any, repercussions for the liability expenses they incur. The LAPD accumulated $100 million in liability costs in fiscal year 2024, according to an LAist analysis of city controller data, but those costs are not covered by the department.

Most liability payments are taken from the general fund, reducing the money available for departments across the city.

Last month, Mejia’s office released a tool allowing people to create their own city budget. Mejia said most people who used the tool indicated that they wanted to see more funding for youth development, disability, civil rights, neighborhood empowerment and housing — some of the very departments set to be hit the hardest.

Get a better grasp on the budget

• Learn more about how the city of L.A. makes its budget with our guide by Cato Hernández.
• Want to know how much of your tax money is going to different city programs? Check out our tax calculator by Brianna Lee.
• Read Frank Stoltze’s story on how federal policies could add to the city’s budget problems.