Mayor signs city's $7 billion budget

Daily News Wire Services

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa signed off on a $7.1 billion budget for fiscal 2008-09 today, saying the spending plan reflects his policy of making public safety the top priority.

Villaraigosa has said he plans to increase the size of the Los Angeles Police Department by 1,000 police officers in the coming fiscal year, which starts July 1.

By next month, Los Angeles police officers will number 9,755 officers. The mayor's office expects that number to rise to 10,032 officers in coming fiscal year, and to 10,316 officers by the summer of 2010.

"Without question, our central value and central responsibility is to protect the public safety," Villaraigosa said at a City Hall news conference. "I made a promise to put 1,000 new officers on the street and this budget keeps that promise."

About 71 percent of the overall budget will go toward public safety -- police and fire services.

In order to pay for adding police, city residents can expect to pay higher fees for parking in city lots and structures, adopting a pet from a city shelter, playing a round of golf at a municipal course and releasing a car from the Los Angeles Police Department impound.

Beginning Sept. 1, single-family households will pay $36.32 for garbage collection -- a 30 percent increase over the current cost. Multi-family units will see the fee increase from $17.16 to $24.33.

"Make no mistake, the national recession, rising gas prices and tanking housing market made these promises and commitments difficult to keep. The very reason prior administrations, prior councils have tried but failed to expand the police department is because it's not easy," Villaraigosa said.

The council's Budget and Finance Committee deliberated more than 50 hours over the mayor's budget.

One of the plans that came out of those hearings was a motion by City Councilman Richard Alarcon to recoup uncollected fees on 217,000 "extra- capacity" garbage cans.

City staffers also agreed to review a proposal to double the fee for 30- gallon cans from $2.50 to $5 for green containers, and from $5 to $10 for black containers. Those actions could bring in about $18.8 million a year, according to the councilman.

Still, city officials must address a $23 million shortfall through mandatory furloughs, buyouts or early retirement plans.

The 2008-09 budget is $193.3 million more than the adopted budget for the current fiscal year. In the coming year, 71 percent of the budget will be allocated for public safety.

City Councilman Bernard Parks, chair of the Budget and Finance Committee, did not attend the budget-signing ceremony. One of his colleagues said Parks' second-place finish in the race for county supervisor was a result of his commitment to the city budget.

"There was an election last night and in that election the budget chairman was involved. He put in 52 hours in front of the camera, in front of the public and he put in countless hours behind the scenes in this (budget process) and as a result of that he didn't come in first," said City Councilman Tony Cardenas.

"But I will tell you, to me, he came in first because he put the public first."

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