Los Angeles, California – By all accounts, Los Angeles is tightening its belt.
Mayor Karen Bass on Saturday signed a $13 billion city budget that reflects both the fiscal strain and the political compromises facing the nation’s second-largest city. The plan for the upcoming fiscal year, beginning July 1, aims to close a nearly $1 billion deficit — a shortfall driven by swelling city payrolls, lagging tax revenues, and mounting legal costs.
The cost-cutting comes with consequences: hundreds of city workers will face layoffs, and multiple city services — from sanitation to homelessness outreach — will see reductions or restructuring. The mayor’s own signature homelessness initiative, Inside Safe, will take a 10% cut, including a controversial move to shift from single to double occupancy in temporary shelters…