City bureaus warn 2025–26 budget cuts will slow street repairs, lengthen lighting outages

City bureau leaders told the Los Angeles City Board of Public Works committee July 1 that reductions in the adopted 2025–26 budget will slow repairs and reduce service levels across multiple public-works programs, from street lights and asphalt repairs to graffiti removal and homeless services.

Bureau of Street Lighting representatives said the bureau lost staff and programs that will lengthen the time to repair street lights and increase the number of fixtures at “end of life.” "By the end of next fiscal year, about a third of our street lights" will be at or past the life of their lamps, Bureau of Street Lighting representative Miguel Sangla said, and the bureau faces an approximately $7.3 million shortfall in energy payments to DWP.

The bureau told the committee that overtime reductions, equipment shortages and the elimination of a proactive LED replacement program will push average repair times from months toward as much as 18 months in some areas. Sangla said the bureau currently fields heavy-construction crews that repair damage from copper-theft incidents; recent staffing cuts eliminated at least one such crew, reducing the bureau’s heavy-repair throughput by an estimated 10–15 service requests per week.

Bureau of Street Services officials said the bureau’s budget has declined about 26% since fiscal 2023–24, with roughly 416 authorities eliminated and sharp reductions in resurfacing and street-sweeping capacity. "Resurfacing would cover an entire roadway; large asphalt repairs are smaller segments," Bureau of Street Services Director Shirley Lau told the committee, saying the bureau will pivot to prioritized repairs while reducing the number of full-street resurfacing miles it can deliver.

The Bureau of Engineering and the CAO’s office said staffing reductions and project funding reversions will delay capital work and increase reliance on contractors. Katie Doherty, deputy city engineer, and senior engineer Andres Foer said the city will have to prioritize projects and rely on alternative contracting approaches to keep major programs moving. The Bureau of Engineering reported that, in the adopted budget, dozens of positions were cut or left vacant; the bureau said it had identified ways to avoid layoffs but will still see reduced internal capacity for project delivery.

LA Sanitation said the adopted budget restored some clean-water and plant positions but eliminated roughly 50 filled positions in livability and support programs; the elimination will reduce the number of mobile hygiene and RV-support operations, officials said. "The mobile hygiene unit program will be eliminated," LA Sanitation General Manager Barbara Romero told the committee, noting that the bureau currently provides about 3,000 showers annually through that program.

Bureau of Contract Administration officials said they preserved inspection and enforcement capacities needed to maintain turnaround times for wage and labor investigations, but warned that ongoing cuts elsewhere could increase project delays and escalate costs on grant-funded projects.

Committee members pressed bureaus on near-term mitigations. Street Lighting officials said they are preparing an assessment and an ordinance package to place a new assessment on the ballot in the fall and that, if voters approve, benefits (including additional crews, more rapid lamp replacement and pilot battery/solar fixes in high‑vandalism areas) would begin in fiscal 2026–27. The bureau said it expects to release the ballot 45 days before a late‑October/early‑November vote and, if passed, start hiring and contracting the following fiscal year.

Officials also noted specific tradeoffs: graffiti-abatement contractors face a state prevailing-wage increase effective July 1, which the Bureau of Street Services and Board of Public Works staff said will reduce how many square feet of graffiti removal can be contracted for with current funds and will push average response times from 24–72 hours toward several days.

Why it matters: the committee heard that cuts and vacancies are not evenly distributed — programs serving marginalized neighborhoods and services tied to safety and sanitation (street lights, potholes, graffiti abatement, homeless services) will see visible, near-term impacts. Staff repeatedly urged that budgeted positions be filled quickly and that the city consider a mix of assessment revenue, targeted contracts and temporary hires to avoid longer service backlogs.

The committee approved related consent and reappointment items in the same meeting; separate articles summarize those votes and a major bridge project financing authorization.

Officials and speakers

Quotes in this story are from public meeting remarks and attributed to speakers on the record: Miguel Sangla, Bureau of Street Lighting representative; Shirley Lau, Bureau of Street Services director; Katie Doherty, deputy city engineer (Bureau of Engineering); Andres Foer, senior civil engineer (Bureau of Engineering); Daisy Bonilla, representing the Office of the City Administrative Officer; Barbara Romero, LA Sanitation general manager.

Ending note: bureau leaders told the committee they will return with more specific implementation plans — including an assessment ordinance package from the Bureau of Street Lighting and fee/permit studies from the Bureau of Engineering — and said timely hiring, contract strategies and possible ballot revenue are the most direct levers to reduce service delays.