Planning Department says budget restorations avert layoffs but will shift programs, fee studies planned

Vince Bertone, director of the Los Angeles Department of City Planning, told the Planning and Land Use Committee that recent council actions restored most positions after proposed cuts and the department is not facing immediate layoffs.

Bertone said the council restored nearly all of the roughly 115 filled positions that had been cut in an early budget proposal and as a result “we're not looking at, those this budget resulting directly in layoffs in the Planning Department,” while acknowledging program-level reductions and reprioritization.

The restructured work plan will pause or defund some programs that had been active, Bertone said, naming the environmental justice element update, staff handling wildlife corridors and the Office of Racial Justice among functions reduced. He told the committee the department expects to bring two new positions from another office — the city forest officer and staff — on July 1 and to transfer zoning review duties from the Department of Building and Safety into Planning later in the fiscal year to consolidate interpretation and plan check functions.

Bertone described three revenue measures tied to the budget: (1) a proposed general plan maintenance surcharge applied to building permits and planning entitlement applications (the budget assumes a 3% increase), (2) a project planning fee study to “right size” fees last updated around 2019, and (3) a separate fee study at Building and Safety. The department's goal is to have the two planning-related fee changes in place by January 1, 2026, he said.

Committee members asked how the changes would affect community plan work. Bertone said the department sustained its core services but will operate with a roughly 14% staffing reduction in the long term and higher vacancy rates in community planning, which will require reprioritization. He said staff hope to complete Southwest Valley community plans in 2026 and then redeploy that capacity to other priorities.

Bertone also reviewed wildfire recovery work in Pacific Palisades, noting coordination with the governor's office to streamline “like‑for‑like” rebuilds in the coastal zone and a pending $1.3 million state grant to support staffing for fire recovery work.

Committee members pressed about the fee proposals and how fee policy affects housing production and community-plan timelines; Bertone said appeals and entitlement work have traditionally had higher cost recovery, while compliance-with-the-rules permits have greater subsidy. The committee did not take a vote on the update; it concluded with questions about fee details as staff move forward with studies.

Bertone and other department staff remained available for follow-up questions on staffing, fee studies and the timing of the zoning-review transfer.