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Ad hoc budget committee outlines priorities, adds funds for housing and contingency reserves
Summary
The council's ad hoc budget committee presented its report, endorsing funding shifts and additions including $5 million for a housing trust fund, $30 million reserve for Rampart liabilities and other contingency appropriations; public hearing continued for further council consideration.
The Los Angeles City Council's ad hoc budget committee presented a near-final report Tuesday that adjusts the mayor's proposed budget to add contingency funds and targeted spending for housing and public-safety liabilities, and the council continued the public hearing to the next scheduled session.
The committee identified four priorities: fund known obligations and contingencies, prepare for potential ballot measures, address large ongoing problems such as Rampart-related liabilities and animal-control services, and refer policy questions to the appropriate policy committees for full vetting.
The committee added approximately $6.2 million for obligatory expenses and adjustments, $2.6 million to support preparation for possible bond measures or ballot placement, and $5 million to seed a new housing trust fund. The committee also set aside $30 million in a contingency for Rampart-related claims and liabilities.
"Most of the issues in the budget are consensus issues," the committee chair said during the presentation, which the council recorded and then continued for further consideration at the next meeting. The chair thanked committee colleagues and city staff for detailed analysis and urged members to bring specific funding proposals or cut offsets if they sought additional items at the next hearing.
The committee also said it would defer purely policy questions, including a requested study of a separate Department of Emergency Preparedness, to the appropriate policy committee. Council members present praised the staff work and the process but emphasized council review before final adoption.
The public hearing on the budget was continued to a future meeting to allow full council consideration and to let departments and the chief administrative staff supply follow-up information requested by members.
Ending: Council leaders urged members to come to the continued hearing prepared with concrete proposals for additions or cuts and said the committee will provide written analyses and time-flow charts to clarify review deadlines and procedures for contract-review thresholds set under the charter.
