(The Center Square) – Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has proposed a $14.85 billion budget for Fiscal Year 2026-2027.
Speaking at a press conference on Monday, Bass said the balanced budget predicts increased revenues from property, business, sales and utility taxes. According to the mayor, the budget also promotes greater efficiency in city services.
“I will absolutely not go back to the broken systems of the past,” said the mayor.
Bass, who’s a Democrat, added that she remains focused on reducing homelessness, building more housing, investing in city services and hiring more police officers.
“Today, as many of you know, street homelessness is down almost 18% in the city of Los Angeles while it increased 18% in the nation,” said Bass. “We’re building more housing, accelerating 42,000 units through my executive directive.”
Approximately 6,000 of those 42,000 units are under construction.
“After years and years, we are finally now hiring more officers, and homicides are at a 60-year low because we are also preventing crime as well as holding people accountable,” said Bass. “That is what the budget I’m releasing today is organized around: continuing to change LA, and move it forward.”
Bass made similar comments in a video for her State of the City address.
Her budget also calls for increased funding for street and sidewalk repairs, as well as street sweeping. Illegal dumping will also be enforced throughout the city.
“This has been an issue that we’ve been working on for the last couple of years,” said Bass.
The mayor applauded her staff, saying the budget “reflects the urgency that Angelenos expect” as well as the accountability that the people of Los Angeles deserve.
The mayor’s budget will now go to the Los Angeles City Council for consideration.
“We are investing in what works, fixing what doesn’t, and making smarter decisions with every dollar so that results are achieved in every neighborhood,” said Bass, a former U.S. representative, California Assembly speaker and physician assistant. “Because the work is not finished, we are moving with purpose, delivering real results, and building a city that is safer, more affordable and more resilient for decades to come.”
