Report Paints Dramatically Dark Picture of...

Drawing the grimmest picture yet of a looming financial crisis, a report Monday said that Los Angeles could shut down every service except police, firefighting and refuse collection and still not have enough money to close a projected budget hole.

The report by City Administrative Officer Keith Comrie sought to put in perspective a previously projected shortfall of up to $550 million that is being studied by a City Council committee.

Several officials said that they do not expect the problem to get that bad and that the city is legally required to maintain a minimum level of library, park and recreation and other services.

But the scenario dramatizes the depth of problems facing Los Angeles after three years of dwindling tax receipts and reductions in support from state government, Comrie told the Budget Committee.

Nitty-gritty decisions on raising taxes or reducing services will begin in earnest April 20 when Mayor Tom Bradley submits his budget proposal to the City Council. Ironically, that is the day of the primary election for a new mayor.

In the worst-case scenario painted by Comrie’s report, the city could lose one-quarter of its general treasury of $2.2 billion. Even laying off 9,100 employees--all but those in the police, fire and refuse collection departments--would not save that much, the report says.

Even if the loss is not that bad, city officials said there is little doubt that they will have to cope with losing at least $300 million--about one-seventh of the $2.2 billion. That projection led the Budget Committee last month to offer up a list of alternatives.

It includes eliminating the Board of Public Works, closing redevelopment projects, cutting pay for all 28,000 city employees, laying off city workers and imposing new taxes--perhaps on trash collection, cable television and entertainment events.

Comrie’s report kept those options on the table and offers up a few more, including reducing street repaving from 140 miles to 100 miles a year and cutting children’s after-school programs.

The committee is scheduled to meet next Monday to discuss another moneymaking possibility: the lease or sale of city-owned airports--Los Angeles International, Ontario, Van Nuys and Palmdale.