Council adopts budget amendments; moves risk management to Department of Finance and splits street resurfacing funding
Loading...
Summary
The council adopted the annual budget with several amendments: splitting an earmarked 25 miles of street resurfacing into half immediate and half reserved, and an amendment that places the city's risk management function in the Department of Finance. Council also approved funding and first-reading ordinances tied to charter implementation.
The Los Angeles City Council approved the city’s annual budget on May 24 with several council amendments that reshape administrative placement and near-term capital work.
Key budget actions included: (1) splitting 25 miles of the street resurfacing program so approximately half the miles are funded immediately in the budget and the remaining half are earmarked in reserve for future allocation, (2) adopting an amendment to place the city’s risk management function under the Department of Finance, and (3) reflecting the council’s earlier vote to advance an ordinance creating a Department of Emergency Preparedness in the budget documents.
On risk management, council debate focused on oversight and reporting. Some councilmembers warned that placing risk management in the Department of Finance would reduce the council’s direct ability to require reports without a charter change; others said the move reconciled prior votes and would centralize related functions such as collections and treasury operations.
Councilmember Goldberg underscored concerns about oversight reporting and the existing labor-management relationships handled through the CAO: “There’s virtually no way for us to require reports from risk management if it's in the Department of Finance,” she said, and urged monitoring and a six-month check-in. Several members proposed adding reporting requirements; one councilmember moved a charter amendment to require quarterly reporting to the council, the CAO and the City Legislative Analyst to build enforceability.
Procedural steps and votes: The council considered related ordinances (Item 3, Item 17 and Item 52) that implement charter changes. Council attempted an override of a mayoral veto earlier in the meeting but did not secure the required votes; subsequently the council adopted an ordinance for several technical charter-conformity items on first reading and passed an amendment to ordinance 17 to include risk management in the Department of Finance (the amendment passed on council vote). The budget amendment that put risk management in the Department of Finance was approved as part of Item 30 (budget) and recorded in the council’s roll calls.
Votes recorded in the meeting transcript included: the motion to amend 30 to split the resurfacing miles passed (12–1), the amendment placing risk management in the Department of Finance passed as part of budget actions (vote recorded as 8–5 on the budget amendment), and the full budget (Item 30 as amended) passed on the final roll call (vote recorded as 8–5).
Councilmembers who opposed placing risk management in Finance said the CAO’s existing relationships with labor and the joint labor-management committee provided an operational benefit that might be disrupted by an immediate move. Supporters argued that anchoring collections, debt management and risk in the Department of Finance produced administrative coherence.
What’s next: Council directed staff to return with implementation details, and several members asked for mandatory periodic reporting; one motion on the council floor requested a charter amendment to require quarterly reports from the Department of Finance and the city risk manager to the council and other oversight offices. The council also carried forward several related ordinances to second reading for final vote.
The budget actions change where the city places the risk management function for the coming fiscal year; details about reporting requirements, staffing, and any charter amendments will be clarified in follow-up reports.
