Hahn Unveils $5.1-Billion Spending Plan

Mayor James K. Hahn unveiled a $5.1-billion budget Friday for the city of Los Angeles that proposes to expand the police force while squeezing most city departments, cutting street paving and tree trimming and raising fees on everything from residential trash pickup to the cost of a round of golf at municipal courses.

But the mayor promised no layoffs, and said that housing, libraries and neighborhood councils will receive funding increases in the fiscal year that begins July 1.

“Public safety was and remains my top priority,” the mayor said at a news conference Friday. “We had hundreds of cuts ... but I think what we were able to do was keep any cut from being very painful.”

Reaction from City Council members was mixed. Many applauded the call for more cops on the street while some grumbled that raising fees and cutting services may not be the best way to pay for it. Council members will have a chance to debate the mayor’s budget in the coming weeks and are expected to vote on it by the end of May.

“I agree with the primary priority being public safety,” said council President Alex Padilla. But he added that he and his staff plan to “turn over every rock to see what funds we can uncover to bolster those basic city services,” such as street repair and tree trimming.

Others said there had to be a better way. “I am not going to support those cuts,” said Councilman Nate Holden. “The public is paying more and getting less services in return.”

The mayor prepared his spending plan in the midst of a gloomy economy that has produced grim state and local budgets. While the mayor’s proposed blueprint is larger than this year’s $4.8-billion budget, much of the increase must cover the rising costs of salaries and workers’ compensation expenses.

All told, the mayor said, he intends to hire 320 additional police officers next year and absorb the salaries of 210 officers previously under contract with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. That will effectively put 500 additional officers on the streets of Los Angeles, “the highest level since 1999,” Hahn said.

Those additions will boost the LAPD to 9,614 sworn officers, an important goal for a city that had the highest murder rate in the nation last year.

The mayor’s budget also calls for 30 more firefighters and 24 additional paramedics. Hahn also wants to spend $4 million to create a Counter-Terrorism Bureau in the Police Department. And, to keep children out of gangs, he proposed $7.3 million to support three new libraries and seven renovated libraries, as well as $4.8 million for new and expanded recreation and park facilities.

Police Chief William J. Bratton described himself as “the happiest guy in the room” after the budget was unveiled.

City Atty. Rocky Delgadillo was less pleased with the budget. It failed to include money to expand his neighborhood prosecutor program, a pet project that placed a deputy city attorney in every police division to address quality-of-life crimes.

“I share the public safety priority outlined in the mayor’s budget, but I’m disappointed the mayor’s budget proposal doesn’t view the city attorney’s office as an integral and proactive aspect of improving public safety and quality of life for the residents of Los Angeles,” Delgadillo said.

The mayor’s office has proposed a 66% increase in residential trash pickup -- from $6 to $10 for single-family homes and from $4 to $6.60 for multiple-family residences -- to generate $23 million.

Other proposed fee increases in the budget include a 62-cent increase in sewer service fees, now about $20 a month, a 75-cent jump in the price of zoo admission and a $5 bump in golf rounds. In addition, parking ticket scofflaws who find mechanical boots attached to their cars would have to pay $100 to get them removed, up from $35.

“Most of these fees have not been raised in several years,” Hahn said. “If we’re not able to have the fee increases as outlined in this budget, what will be hurt are my priorities, and that’s public safety.”

He also noted that cuts to tree trimming and road paving will not be major.

A hiring freeze, instituted in November 2001, would remain in place, and about 400 unfilled positions will be erased from ledger books completely, freeing about $43 million. Officials conceded that maintaining such vacancies means that, in many departments, employees are stretched thin, forced to do more work with fewer people.

The city also intends to generate about $6 million next year by more aggressively pursuing scofflaws who do not pay their ambulance bills, license their dogs on time and otherwise avoid civic responsibilities. Over the last decade, the city has allowed about $50 million to slip through its fingers because of lax enforcement of such fines.

The mayor also said that workers’ compensation charges are rising again next year, and he plans to lobby state leaders to rein in costs.

The proposed budget is based on the assumption that state funding formulas will not change dramatically. If, for example, cities were to lose projected funds from the vehicle licensing fee, currently estimated at $175 million, Hahn said, “We’ll have to go back to the drawing boards on this budget.”

Councilman Eric Garcetti agreed that the fee increases were necessary, but said he expects the council to be more aggressive this year in reviewing Hahn’s budget.

“Last year, we changed almost nothing, because we had an overwhelmingly new council,” he said. “There are stirrings that ... there may be potential changes at the council level.”