Budget Gets Initial OK From Council

The Los Angeles City Council voted Monday to give preliminary approval to Mayor Richard Riordan’s proposed $2.8-billion general fund budget for 1999-2000 with only minor changes.

The balanced budget reflects greater spending fueled without higher taxes, largely because taxes and fees are increasing as a result of the robust economy. The council agreed with the mayor’s plans to hire more police officers and firefighters, resurface hundreds of miles of city streets and hire animal control officers to reduce the number of stray dogs roaming many neighborhoods.

For the second consecutive year, city workers face brighter prospects. A year after the council lifted a citywide hiring freeze, the new budget allows for full funding of union negotiated increases in pay and benefits.

“This action supports the mayor’s goals and direction. It really builds upon our budget and nothing major was changed,” said Deputy Mayor Jennifer Roth.

With Monday’s deliberations complete, the council will work out details of the budget in committee next Monday. The budget will be sent to the mayor, who will have five days to review it, veto items if he chooses, and return it to the council for a final vote.

During mostly smooth deliberations, some of the most passionate discussion concerned measures to control the stray animal population. The council approved $200,000 to pay for $50 vouchers that would be given to pet owners for spaying or neutering their animals.

Councilman Rudy Svorinich Jr., while generally supporting the idea of vouchers, said that they should be given only to those who cannot afford them. “I have a problem with that if it means rich people with numerous pets can get as many [vouchers] as they want,” he said.

Contending that the stray animal population is so out of control that 4,000 vouchers is a minimal effort, Councilman Joel Wachs said that having “loose dogs in the streets is dangerous regardless of the means of the owners. We need to reduce the animal population, not spay and neuter the owners.”

The new budget calls for hiring 157 additional police officers. The city will be reimbursed for 90% of the new officers’ salaries and benefits for three years through a federal grant program.

Even with the new hires, which will boost the LAPD to record staffing levels, Los Angeles will still have far fewer officers per capita than other big cities. Police Chief Bernard C. Parks told the council that Los Angeles has about 2.4 officers per 1,000 residents, while the national average is 3.8. To bring the per capita number of officers up to the national average, the department would have to add 3,500 officers, Parks said.

Parks also said he opposed a measure approved by the council to eliminate the upgrading of 79 sworn officer positions and use the money to buy more police cars. Parks said the department is short of senior personnel such as sergeants and training officers, and will need them even more as new officers are added.

Under the new budget plan, 126 recruits will be added to the Fire Department, and money will be spent on safety equipment. Emergency response times are also expected to be reduced with an additional $2.8 million for paramedics.

Councilman Richard Alatorre, who as chairman of the Budget Committee shepherded the package through the council, said this year’s budget deliberations were among the smoothest he has seen. He cautioned, however, that council members exercise restraint even with the city’s healthy revenues.

“Because there’s a surplus, people want to raid it. People don’t realize there are some major, major issues ahead” he said, citing pending police and fire department overtime pay settlements and potential costs from Y2K computer problems.