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Proposed FY2025-26 Budget Highlights:

Unrestricted Revenues:

The City of LA's budget for Unrestricted Revenues is $6.45B. Unrestricted Revenues are discretionary funds that can be spent on anything.

Public Comment Opportunities

  • Friday, April 25 at 1:00pm - Budget & Finance Committee Hearing at Van Nuys City Hall
  • Monday, April 28 at 4:00pm - 8:00pm - Budget & Finance Committee Hearing at Downtown City Hall

Written Public Comment:

Budget Process

  • The City’s fiscal year is from July 1 through June 30.
  • The Charter requires that departments submit budget requests to the Mayor by January 1.
  • The Mayor releases her proposed budget on April 20th which will then go to the City’s Budget, Finance, and Innovation (BFI) Committee who will make recommendations on the proposed budget.
  • The Charter requires the City Council, by majority vote, to adopt or modify the Proposed Budget by June 1.
  • Once the City Council has acted, the Mayor has five working days to approve or veto any changes that the City Council made to the Proposed Budget.
  • Once the Mayor has acted, the City Council has five working days to sustain or override by two-thirds vote the Mayor’s actions.
  • The result of this entire process is the adopted budget for the next fiscal year.

Budget Presentation

The Mayor presents the complete Proposed Budget in four budget books: Budget Summary, Proposed Budget Book, Detail of Departmental Programs (Blue Book), and Revenue Outlook.

Visit https://cao.lacity.gov/budget/ for more information.

  • Budget Summary – The Mayor’s Budget Summary provides the reader with highlights and general information concerning the Proposed Budget.
  • Proposed Budget Book – The Proposed Budget Book contains technical information concerning departments and special funds.
  • Detail of Departmental Programs (Blue Book Vol 1 and Vol 2) – The Detail of Departmental Programs, also known as the Blue Book, provides detailed explanations of year-over-year proposed changes to the City’s annual budget base.
  • Revenue Outlook – The Revenue Outlook provides an overview of the revenue anticipated

GLOSSARY:

GENERAL FUND: The primary operating fund of the City. It is used to account for all financial resources except those required to be accounted for in other funds. General Fund revenues are derived from such sources as taxes, licenses, permits, fees, fines, intergovernmental revenues, charges for services, special assessments, interest income, and other resources available for discretionary funding.

RESERVE FUND: An account in which unrestricted cash is set aside outside the budget for unforeseen expenditures and emergencies.

SPECIAL FUNDS (OTHER SPECIAL PURPOSE FUNDS): Are used to account for revenues derived from specific taxes, fees, governmental grants, or other revenue sources that are designated to finance particular functions and activities of the City.

• EXAMPLE – The Special Parking Revenue Fund accounts for all monies collected from parking meters in the City except those located in established vehicle parking districts for operations of meters in the City.

BUDGET STABILIZATION FUND: Establishes a method to prevent overspending during prosperous years and to provide resources to help maintain service levels during lean years.

• This Fund is comprised of excess revenue from seven economy-sensitive taxes, Property Tax, Utilities Users’ Tax, Business Tax, Sales Tax, Transient Occupancy Tax, Documentary Tax, and Parking Users’ Tax.

UNRESTRICTED REVENUES: Revenues that the City can use for any general expenditure. All unrestricted revenues come from the General Fund. Certain General Fund receipts resulting from fees imposed on various city services, however, are “restricted” in the sense that the funds collected are used to offset the cost of the service provided.