KTLA

L.A. mayor’s budget includes furloughs, cuts to street repairs, gang intervention, graffiti removal

Mayor Eric Garcetti delivers his State of the City address Sunday night in a nearly empty City Council chamber on April 19, 2020. (Marcus Yam/Los Angeles Times)

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti unveiled a $10.5-billion budget for the city Monday that imposes cuts across an array of city agencies, with nearly 16,000 city workers being furloughed in response to the economic fallout from the coronavirus outbreak.

Garcetti’s proposed spending plan for the fiscal year starting July 1 is expected to result in fewer street repairs, fewer trees trimmed and longer wait times for the city’s 311 public services hotline. Graffiti paint-out services, neighborhood councils, gang intervention programs and various infrastructure projects are also on track to have less money in the coming fiscal year, aides to Garcetti said.

The budget predicts revenues will rise just 1.8%, compared with the 4.5% annual average growth the city has seen since over the last six years.

The mayor released his budget a day after he provided a grim forecast for the coming year, warning viewers during his State of the City address that the downturn would be worse than the 2008 recession.

Read the full story on LATimes.com.