Villaraigosa Signs $7.7B Budget With Raises For City Staffers
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Outgoing Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa signed off on his final city budget Tuesday.
KNX 1070's Vytas Safronikas reports the $7.7 billion spending plan, which takes effect July 1, includes a 5.5 percent raise for most city employees.
Villaraigosa Signs $7.7B Budget With Raises For City Staffers
The City Council approved Villaraigosa's proposed budget for the 2013-14 fiscal year on May 29 with a 11-0 vote, handing Mayor-Elect Eric Garcetti and the next administration what the Mayor's office called a "more financially secure city."
The approved budget preserves a 10,000-officer Los Angeles Police Department and funds the city's Gang Reduction and Youth Development program. The budget also increases funding for various city services, including sidewalk repair, meals for the elderly, graffiti removal and tree trimming.
And while Garcetti acknowledged the city had made progress in its effort to trim spending, there remains more to do in order to trim a projected $108 million shortfall.
"We've backed quite a bit away from the cliff, but we can still see that cliff," Garcetti said. "In a year or two, we're gonna inch closer to it once again if we don't do some further things to cut costs and to boost our revenues."
