LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles City Council has approved a $8.1 billion city budget.
The spending plan was adopted Wednesday without discussing whether a proposed half-cent sales tax should go on the November ballot.
The fiscal year 2014-2015 budget places $284 million in reserves, representing 5.5% of the budget. With the reserve fund, plus $62.4 million in the budget stabilization fund, and $20 million in reserve for budget uncertainties the city will have total reserves representing 7% of the budget, according to Miguel Santana, the city administrative officer.
While the city works to attain fiscal stability, leaders are also bringing back services in what Santana said is a fiscally sustainable fashion.
"Our policy is to keep reserves at 5.5%," Santana said adding that given that reserves dropped to 3% of the budget in 2010, the city has made significant progress.
The budget also includes funding for 2,400 miles of street repairs and $20 million to fix the city's sidewalks.
Santana said the half-cent sales tax he and Chief Legislative Analyst Gerry Miller proposed in April is slated for discussion by the City Council in June.
The current funding to repair city streets only covers slurry and seal, not reconstruction of failing city streets. The half-cent sales tax would help fund actual reconstruction of the roads. The half-cent sales tax would generate $4.5 billion over 15 years.
While the budget process is nearing the finish line, it still has to be approved by Mayor Eric Garcetti, who has line item veto authority. He usually signs the budget the first week of June.
The budget works toward Santana's stated goal of achieving a surplus by fiscal 2018, he said.
Santana said elected leaders have heeded his advice in a report earlier this year to continue to control costs.
"The mayor and City Council have achieved that with this budget," Santana said. "There are very modest increases in the budget aimed at restoring city services. The size of the workforce remains at the same level."
He added that the reforms adopted have been maintained.
"We're on the right track with this budget, but it's still a long way to the finish line," Los Angeles Councilmember Paul Krekorian, chair of the Budget and Finance Committee, said in a prepared statement.
The sacrifices made by the city over the past six years has put Los Angeles on better fiscal footing, Krekorian said.
"We have been able to lower the deficit by more than $800 million since 2010," he said. "At the same time, we have established the largest reserve fund that the city has had in a long time. This is responsible budgeting that will protect us for years to come."
He added that the work isn't done yet.
"There is still an ongoing structural deficit that we need to eliminate," Krekorian said. "I'm confident we will get there through continued collaboration. As the economy continues its recovery, I look forward to doing even more to restore services across the city."
