Buffalo Criminal Attorney Blog

The Los Angeles City Council approved a $9.9 billion spending plan for the next fiscal year recently, boosting contributions to the city’s cash reserves and funding for housing projects for the homeless.

In a 15-0 vote, the City Council approved a budget that will, among other things, increase staff at the 311 call center, spend over $260 million on repairs for the city’s most damaged streets and sidewalks, add 70 beds to domestic violence shelters, and fund Census 2020 outreach and educational efforts.

City lawmakers also approved a series of motions Monday to boost the budget stabilization fund to $107 million – above the $104 million proposed by Mayor Eric Garcetti – and the reserve fund to $351 million, $8 million above what the mayor requested.

An additional $6 million was approved by the council for a mid-year budget fund to make up for any potential shortfalls.

Garcetti’s proposed budget, unveiled on April 19, relies on a projected 5.6 percent increase in revenues from property, sales and hotel taxes.

Meanwhile, cannabis shops are expected to pump $10 million in additional revenue according to a May 15 report by the city’s chief legislative analyst.

Total revenue from legal pot is less that what the city estimated, however: In June 2017, City Controller Ron Galperin estimated the city could see $50 million in taxes from marijuana in 2018.

The proposed budget includes $2.3 million for staff to enforce laws against unlicensed cannabis businesses.

It includes $91 million for Vision Zero, a project to eliminate all traffic deaths by 2025, and other traffic and pedestrian safety projects.

The budget also commits $10 million to a fund for police overtime pay and $9 million to hire 195 firefighters.

Pension costs for the city’s public employees, meanwhile, are projected to increase by $91.8 million, bringing total spending to $1.2 billion over the next year.

Riding the wave of a strong state economy, Garcetti – a potential 2020 presidential candidate – proposed a 7.6 percent increase from last year’s budget.

In early May, California climbed the global rankings to become the fifth largest economy in the world. But not all residents are thriving in the state’s economic boom.

California leads the nation with both the highest number of people experiencing homelessness – about 134,000, or 24 percent of the nation’s total – and the highest proportion of unsheltered homeless people of any state at 68 percent, according to a California State Auditor report issued last month.

A report by Phil Ansell, director of Los Angeles County’s homeless initiatives, said nearly half of LA County residents pay more than 30 percent of their income on rent.

Over 80 percent of the lowest income residents who make under $15,000 annually pay more than half their income on rent, according to county data.

The City Council-approved budget would create a $20 million fund for emergency homeless shelters in districts across Los Angeles and spend $176 million on programs to address homelessness.

The bulk of financing for homelessness programs comes from Proposition HHH, a tax approved by Los Angeles voters in November 2017.

The next fiscal year will be the first full year of Proposition HHH funding. The parcel tax is expected to raise $1.2 billion in bonds for the construction of 10,000 housing units.

Garcetti’s proposed budget kicked off weeks of public hearings by lawmakers, analysis from city officials and comment from the public.

In a May 3 letter to city leaders, the Historic Highland Park Neighborhood Council said the issues of homelessness and lack of affordable housing have been “endlessly discussed but so far have lacked satisfactory resolution.”

The neighborhood council also took issue with the amount lawmakers allocated to the reserve fund, which they said is below state requirements.

“We want the fiscal resilience to feel confident about our future,” the letter said.

All 15 council members were elated once the final votes were tallied.

Councilmember Paul Krekorian said it was the fastest city budget process in recent memory.

“No one should think the speed at which this process was completed should indicate any kind of lack of vetting,” Krekorian said.

Sharon Gin, legislative assistant at the city clerk’s office, said the budget will now go to the mayor’s desk.

Garcetti can either sign the budget, veto it or decide to take no action.

Whatever he decides, a full budget must be in place by June 1, Gin said.

Representatives of the Federal Judiciary recently asked Congress to provide $7.22 billion in 2019 to fund continued operations of the judicial branch. The request includes funding to sustain cybersecurity initiatives and ensure sufficient security at federal courthouses.

“We ask that you consider the Judiciary’s unique constitutional role in our system of government,” said Judge John W. Lungstrum, chair of the Judicial Conference Committee on the Budget. “In return, we commit to you that we will continue to be good fiscal stewards, cutting costs where possible, spending each dollar wisely, and making smart investments to achieve long-term savings.”

Lungstrum testified before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government. He was joined by James C. Duff, director of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. They presented the Judiciary’s budget request for fiscal year 2019, which starts October 1, 2018.

“I would like to acknowledge the subcommittee for its generous and consistent support of the Judiciary’s needs,” Duff said. “We hope to maintain your confidence and support through another year of successful performance of our constitutional and statutory duties and efficient stewardship of taxpayer resources through the continuation of our longstanding cost containment program.” The fiscal year 2019 budget request reflects an overall increase of 3.2 percent to maintain current services and to fund priority initiatives.

Lungstrum said the Judiciary is requesting $95 million for cybersecurity, saying that the Judiciary has moved aggressively to upgrade IT protections since 2015 cyber attacks compromised Office of Personnel Management records. “Inevitably, Judiciary systems have and will continue to be targeted, like numerous government and commercial entities worldwide,” Lungstrum said.

The Judiciary also is seeking increases for the defender services program to handle projected caseload and other priorities; additional funding to improve courthouse security; and funding to update PACTS, a national integrated database that helps probation and pretrial services officers supervise criminal offenders and defendants under community supervision.

Lungstrum’s and Duff’s statements each highlighted Judiciary initiatives to save money.

Lungstrum said the Judiciary recently surpassed its national 3 percent space reduction goal set in 2013. To date, that initiative has saved the Judiciary $25 million in annual rent costs. When combined with new policies negotiated by the Judiciary with the General Services Administration on how GSA appraises and charges for certain types of rental space, federal courts have achieved annual rent savings of nearly $80 million.

In addition, the Judiciary has worked to cut costs by encouraging court units to share common administrative functions. “Over 90 percent of all courts report having formal or informal/temporary sharing arrangements of some kind,” he said.

Lungstrum expressed concern in written testimony that proposed cuts to non-defense federal spending in fiscal year 2019 could significantly impact the Judiciary. Such cuts “would come at a time in which the Administration intends to increase border security and law enforcement activities, which will increase our workload,” he said.

He also thanked Congress for Judiciary funding levels in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2018. The recently passed law, which funds the federal government for fiscal year 2018, included funding to increase the daily juror attendance fee from $40 to $50, raised hourly fees for private lawyers appointed to represent criminal defendants, and included GSA funding to build three top-priority courthouses.