L.A. Council approves $15-billion budget, advancing 510 police hires

L.A. City – Los Angeles City Council approved a $15-billion budget for 2026-27, clearing the way to hire 510 Los Angeles Police Department officers while increasing city reserves for potential emergencies and future borrowing needs. The vote was 12-1, with Councilmember T

For the third year in a row, Los Angeles budget talks are not really about spreadsheets—they’re about what kind of safety city residents will get, and who pays the price when money is tight.

On Thursday. the Los Angeles City Council signed off on a $15-billion budget for 2026-27 in a 12-to-1 vote. preserving Mayor Karen Bass’ police hiring plan while setting aside additional money for potential emergencies. The budget’s centerpiece is a promise to hire 510 Los Angeles Police Department officers to offset resignations and retirements.

Under the plan, by June 2027 the department is expected to have 8,555 officers, down from about 10,000 in 2020.

Councilmember Traci Park cast the lone opposing vote. She said the budget shortchanges the fire department and cuts the number of homeless encampment cleanups in her district. which stretches from Los Angeles International Airport north to Pacific Palisades—an area that includes Pacific Palisades. where thousands of homes were destroyed in the 2025 Palisades fire.

“This budget asks Angelenos to accept slower emergency response, dirtier beaches and more failed homelessness spending — all while City Hall continues to under-invest in the basic services people count on to keep them safe,” Park said.

Bass and the council plan to take a second look at firefighter staffing after the Nov. 3 election, when voters will consider a sales tax increase to pay for fire department operations.

Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez defended the spending plan, arguing it funds both immediate needs and long-term prevention. She pointed to money for sidewalk repairs. tree trimming. unarmed crisis response teams and the “safe parking” program. which sets aside spaces and services for homeless people living in their vehicles.

“We are investing in solarizing street lights so entire neighborhoods are not left in the dark,” Hernandez said.

The decision came with a sense of contrast to last year’s frantic tone. During 2025 deliberations, council members scrambled to eliminate a $1-billion shortfall while working to minimize cuts to the city workforce. This time. council members put more money into the city’s reserves—partly to improve the city’s borrowing terms for an upgrade to the Convention Center.

That borrowing matters because the council has already lined up plans to issue $1.8 billion in bonds for the Convention Center upgrade. Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky. who heads the budget committee. said lenders and bond rating agencies will be watching closely as Los Angeles prepares to move forward. Even small differences in the interest rate, she said, could translate into tens of millions of dollars in savings.

“This budget sends a signal that the city of Los Angeles is taking our fiscal responsibilities and our future seriously,” Yaroslavsky said.

In the background of Thursday’s vote. the council also got early-week relief on another front: business leaders promised to withdraw their ballot proposal to repeal the gross receipts tax. If the measure had been approved. it would have deprived the city of an average of $860 million per year over five years—money that could have forced deep cuts to city services.

Bass proposed what she described as a hold-the-line budget last month. That plan mostly avoided new investments or cuts. calling for staffing to remain roughly the same at both the police and fire departments while ramping up the installation of “curb cuts. ” the wheelchair ramps on sidewalks at intersections. The budget approved Thursday. however. preserves and slows the ramp-up of the police hiring plan by allowing about 25 recruits per Police Academy class during the first part of the fiscal year and up to 50 recruits per class during the second half of the fiscal year.

The council also made smaller but notable adjustments. It gave a small increase to the budget of Inside Safe, the mayor’s signature program to combat homelessness. It allocated $1.5 million for Represent LA, which provides legal representation to residents facing deportation or other immigration proceedings.

At Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martínez’s request, the council asked city budget analysts to produce a report on whether Represent LA can be increased to $2.5 million in the coming months.

Taken together. Thursday’s vote left Los Angeles with an early answer on policing numbers and a later promise on fire staffing—while carving out room for emergencies. infrastructure work. and future bond negotiations. For Park, the tradeoff was immediate and personal. For Hernandez and the mayor’s team. it was an effort to keep multiple forms of public safety moving at once. even as the city’s finances remain under constant pressure.

Los Angeles City Council $15 billion budget 510 police officers Karen Bass LAPD hiring fire department staffing homelessness encampment cleanups Inside Safe Represent LA Convention Center bonds gross receipts tax