This week, the City Council approved the Fiscal Year 2015-2016 Budget. The Budget and Finance Committee built on the Mayor’s proposed budget, finding an additional $50 million in net revenue. Here are some of the highlights of what was adopted:

LAFD_Budget_2015

Public Safety

  • Fully funds Fire Dispatch
  • Provides 5 Firefighter Training Classes
  • Fully restores Ambulance services
  • Funds vital Fire Life Safety Equipment and Technology for Fire Fighters
  • Adds a New Engine Company to increase the restoration of the Fire Department
  • Initiates a False Alarm Fee Process
  • Funds the innovative Nurse Practitioner program to help residents access better emergency services and improve ambulance response times
  • Upgrades our emergency communication systems
  • Provides money to reduce LAPD’s Fingerprint Backlog
  • New Black and White vehicles and zero-emission motorcycles for LAPD
  • Provides vital funding for the Devonshire PALS Center to serve our most vulnerable at-risk youth
  • Adds technology and resources for the Emergency Management Department

Pothole (1)Public Works

  • Preserves 2,400 lane miles of street pavement
  • Trims 57,000 trees
  • Provides $2 million in median maintenance
  • Fills 350,000 potholes
  • Increases funding for sidewalk repair
  • Restores graffiti abatement funding
  • Expands the Clean Streets program to combat illegal dumping
  • Creates coordinated Sustainability efforts to protect our communities

school_crossing_guardCritical City Services

  • Expands the school crossing guard program
  • Reduces the Personnel Department’s testing backlog – vital to restoring city services
  • Expedited Plan Review positions provided for the Department of Transportation
  • Additional resources for Pavement Preservation Quality Control
  • Creates a pathway to increase Neighborhood Council funding by up to $5,000 a year
  • Includes a Neighborhood Council online voting pilot
  • Adds staff for the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment
  • Fully funds our Senior Centers – including Wilkinson, in Northridge
  • Funds technology for use by our Disability Community
  • Provides Youth Employment funding
  • Adds a Zoning Administrator to increase the level of planning services for the Valley
  • Creates a Neighborhood Conservation unit and Code Amendments unit to enforce planning conditions

budgetcalculatorFinancial Responsibility

  • Brings the City’s Reserve Fund up to $313.5 million, or 5.8% of General Fund revenue
  • Brings the Budget Stabilization (Rainy Day) Fund up to $91.9 million
  • Restores audit funding for the City Controller
  • Eliminates the Business Tax for New Car Dealership leases as well as sales
  • Resources for added intergovernmental meetings and training
  • Initiates a cost-benefit analysis for the City’s Historic Preservation designation
  • Builds on efficiencies, using data and metrics and provides funding to update vital technology infrastructure for more streamlined and transparent service delivery
  • Eliminates the previously projected $165 million deficit for the current year and fully eliminates the structural deficit by 2019.