Today, the Los Angeles City Council voted to approve the City’s $13 billion budget for Fiscal Year 2023-24. As the Vice Chair of the Budget, Finance and Innovation Committee, I am proud to see that the Council was able to successfully build on the broad outline of the Mayor’s proposed budget, with amendments to ensure transparency and accountability in the City’s spending while setting aside $566 million in a reserve fund.
Among the largest items in the proposed budget were those addressing the homelessness emergency: $250 million for the Inside Safe program, with $65.7 to be allocated initially and $184.3 million to be released as the funds are expended and the Mayor’s office reports on the program’s progress. Additional funds provide for the acquisition of interim and permanent housing; for substance use disorder treatment beds, funded with revenue received from the opioid settlement.
Moreover, the budget seeks to restore LAPD staffing to 9,500 sworn officers, with two full classes of recruits in training and additional funding to return retired police officers to active duty, hire additional civilian personnel and increase staffing for 911 dispatch services.
With a shared commitment toward building a more fair and equitable Los Angeles, we have met this moment with great urgency and determination. Working together as a united front, we have established a clear path in the budget to provide residents of Los Angeles the city services they deserve while addressing our most pressing needs surrounding homelessness, public safety including unarmed alternative crisis teams, investments in pedestrian and traffic safety, combating climate change, and increasing opportunities for growth and reducing poverty.
The Council’s vote today instructs the Chief Legislative Analyst to draft an ordinance formally adopting the budget, an ordinance the Council will adopt next week.
Councilman Curren D. Price Jr.