BUDGET POLITICS - The most striking aspect of Mayor Villaraigosa’s final budget is that the City is projecting a $15 million budget surplus for the fiscal year 2017-18, the last year of new mayor’s first (and only?) term.
While this is the first time in many years that we have seen black ink in any projections, it will take a considerable amount of discipline to achieve this projected budget surplus.
The City is also projecting a balanced budget for the year beginning July 1, in large part because of the $200 million increase in tax revenues compared to the previous projection. In addition, personnel expenditures are projected to increase by only $200 million, a “savings” of almost $100 million from the previous budget projection.
This “savings” in labor costs will not only come from a $50 million savings in pension contributions, but from the elimination of the 5.5% pay raises for civilian workers scheduled for January 1, 2014 and a proposal to require civilian employees to pay for 10% of their health care benefit.
But this will be cause for a full scale war between the City’s civilian unions and City Hall as the SEIU and the other non-sworn unions have been rattling their swords, demanding not only roll backs of previous “sacrifices” (lower than expected raises and higher pension contributions), but higher salaries and increased benefits and work rules.
The dissatisfaction has been evident as selected work units have reportedly been engaged in “slowdowns” over the last few months.
Furthermore, the civilian workers will once again be insulted as they are being treated as second class citizens relative to the cops and firefighters.
In addition, the City’s projections do not include any new salary increases over the next four years, following the lead of the County that has not granted wage increases over the last four years.
Of course, these very difficult labor negotiations are being dumped in the lap of the next mayor who will have the opportunity to show their fiscal chops. However, The Pixie and The Prince have yet to comment on these specific proposals.
On the other hand, the Mayor said that he has had discussions with the City Council about these matters and that the City Council supports a fiscally sustainable future where our streets and sidewalks take precedence over increases in salaries and benefits.
The war between the civilian unions and City Hall will be further aggravated because the City will not use one time revenues to fund on-going programs or increases in employee compensation or benefits. Rather, these surplus revenues of $120 million will be allocated to one time expenditures such as the Reserve Fund, street resurfacing, sidewalk repair, cop cars, and the reduction of the police overtime bank.
While the proposed budget is a vast improvement over the previous years, we are still burdened with an unfunded pension liability of $11.5 billion and lunar cratered streets and a failing infrastructure that needs more than $10 billion over the next 10 or 15 years.
Furthermore, whatever trust and confidence the voters had in City Hall evaporated as our elected Elite and Police Chief Charlie Beck lied to the public about the true state of the City’s finances.
Now is the time for the City Council to earn the trust and confidence of the voters by placing on the ballot a charter amendment that requires the City to LIVE WITHIN ITS MEANS.
And while City Hall is giddy about the new found revenues and the improved prospects of the City’s finances, unless there is budget, pension, and work place reform, voters will not approve any tax increases.
(Jack Humphreville writes LA Watchdog for CityWatch. He is the President of the DWP Advocacy Committee, the Ratepayer Advocate for the Greater Wilshire Neighborhood Council, and a Neighborhood Council Budget Advocate. Humphreville is the publisher of the Recycler Classifieds -- www.recycler.com. He can be reached at: [email protected]. Hear Jack every Tuesday morning at 6:20 on McIntyre in the Morning, KABC Radio 790.) Graphic credit: LA Daily News.
-cw
CityWatch
Vol 11 Issue 33
Pub: Apr 23, 2013
