Mayor Bass has unveiled a $14.9 billion pre-election budget that avoids layoffs, boosts police hiring and trims her signature homelessness program, but leaves the Los Angeles Fire Department with little new funding.
The plan for Fiscal Year 2026-27, released Monday, hikes spending by roughly $745 million while keeping much of the city’s homelessness system intact, even as critics warn it is “more of the same” after last year’s near-$1 billion deficit crisis.
It lands in the heat of a tightening mayoral race, with Bass under growing pressure from challengers including reality TV star-turned-candidate Spencer Pratt, with public safety and homelessness the defining issues in the race.
A major pillar of the budget, and a looming political risk, is its reliance on business taxes, which generate roughly $895 million annually and fund core services such as policing, fire response and street repairs.
Tenuous tax
Just last week, the hostile socialist City Council moved to study a ballot measure that could repeal the tax entirely, a step that could strip an estimated $800 million a year from city coffers.
When pressed, Bass was blunt: “Eliminating the business tax would eliminate the Fire Department.”
The fire department will see just 40 new positions, with any broader expansion delayed until at least November, a reality Bass acknowledged as “basically cuts,” even as she insisted emergency coverage remains intact.
Fire officials have repeatedly warned about staffing shortages and increasing call volumes across the city.
The strain was already evident during the Palisades wildfire response, where the LAFD’s own internal review found it failed to fully staff available resources despite dangerous conditions.
The report said roughly 225 additional firefighters were needed to man engines and equipment that were left idle.
In the past, those units would have been automatically staffed during high-risk Red Flag conditions, but a 2017 policy change downgraded the requirement from “shall staff” to “consider staffing” due to budget constraints and staffing shortages.
$778M for homeless
Compounding the problem, dozens of engines were out of service for repairs on the day of the fire, forcing the department to rely on outside agencies and overtime to plug critical gaps.
The budget’s biggest headline figure is $778 million for homelessness, including about $104 million for Bass’s Inside Safe program, her flagship effort to move homeless residents into temporary housing, a sharp drop from just over $300 million last year.
The remaining roughly $670 million will fund the wider system, including tiny-home villages, Bridge To Home shelters, leased motels, outreach contracts, case management and street-level services such as sanitation and encampment response.
City Hall points to a reported 17.5% drop in unsheltered homelessness, a figure officials say validates the strategy, but the cost and long-term impact continue to draw scrutiny, particularly given the reliance on expensive hotel and motel placements.
“Despite record revenues, I see no real plan for the streets, sidewalks, parks, and streetlights,” Pratt said.
“She is continuing her wasteful spending on the failed Inside Safe program. More of the same is a death sentence for L.A.”
The budget also leans heavily on public safety, with Bass proposing to hire 510 police officers, though officials say most will replace departing staff rather than expand the force, highlighting the department’s ongoing staffing crisis.
Even if approved, LAPD staffing is projected to fall to about 8,555 officers by 2027, down from roughly 10,000 in 2020.
“For the nation’s second-largest city, our force is relatively small. This year it is about preventing the shrinkage,” Bass said.
“In two short months, we’re going to have a World Cup here, and in another couple of years, we will have the Olympics. This year it’s about preventing the department from shrinking.”
The Los Angeles Police Protective League backed the plan, urging the City Council to ensure enough officers remain on the street to respond to emergencies.
“The mayor’s balanced budget protects public safety and funds the hiring of 510 police officers to keep Angelenos safe and maintain the LAPD’s ability to respond to 911 calls,” the union said.
Council battle
But the proposal is expected to face resistance after last year’s clashes, when the City Council cut Bass’s hiring plan from 480 officers to 240 before restoring it to 410, highlighting deep divisions over policing costs.
Across the rest of the budget, the strategy is largely to hold the line, after last year’s warnings of layoffs and service cuts rattled City Hall.
The plan relies on about $8.3 billion in general fund revenue driven by higher business, property and sales taxes, allowing the city to avoid layoffs after last year’s financial scare.
Services remain largely flat, with about 170 street repair workers added, roughly $36 million for sidewalks, expanded curb cuts at intersections, increased street cleaning and $1 million for RepresentLA, a legal defense program for immigrants that has drawn political backlash.
City Administrative Officer Matt Szabo described the moment as a partial recovery.
“We are making steady steps toward stability,” he said, warning the city still cannot restore all previously cut services.
The budget also sets aside about $200 million for liability payouts, including settlements tied to lawsuits and claims against the city.
The proposal now heads to the City Council, where weeks of hearings will determine whether this hold-the-line strategy survives or is reshaped.