When Mayor Karen Bass announced her 2024-25 budget, she called for a 2.7% spending cut for the Los Angeles Fire Department.

Her proposal, released in April, called for $23 million in cuts to the department, many of which focused on cutting equipment purchases.

But while the citywide spending proposal was being considered, Bass was also in private negotiations over a significant pay increase for the city’s 3,300 firefighters. Those raises — 4 years salary increase and a series of other financial incentives were not finalized until months after the budget took effect.

city ​​council Approved pay raises for firefighters In November, more than $53 million in payroll costs were added. By that time, the council also signed off Spent $58 million to purchase new fire engines and other departments.

When these two items were added, the fire department’s operating budget actually increased by more than 7 percent compared to the previous year, according to city financial analysts.

The issue of firefighting spending, boring and burdensome in normal times, is now a serious issue in Los Angeles in the wake of the massive destruction caused by the ongoing Pacific Palisades wildfires. The Eaton Fire, which destroyed large areas of Altadena, is outside Los Angeles city limits.

While the Los Angeles Fire Department’s overall annual operating budget is increasing and is on track to exceed $950 million, the agency is also having to cut back on some operations.

Bass and other officials said the cuts have not affected the department’s ability to fight the Palisades Fire.

After Tuesday’s fire, critics of the Los Angeles Police Department used the numbers in Bass’s 2024-25 budget to argue that the money allocated to police comes at the expense of firefighters. Elon Musk, owner of social media platform X, shared a post lamenting “LAFD’s lack of funding.” Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong of the Los Angeles Times also criticized the city’s handling of the fire department budget on March 1, 2019. social media and elsewhere.

Basu, who was in Africa at the time of the fires, sought to refute claims of budget cuts by saying the department’s spending had increased during the current fiscal year. She said funding for firefighter raises was part of the budget from the beginning, but in a separate account from the fire department’s budget.

“The funds were earmarked for later distribution and were actually used for fire department salaries and other departmental support,” Bass told reporters during a Thursday briefing.

Last year, faced with a severe budget shortfall, Bass and the council eliminated dozens of civilian positions in the department, all of which were already vacant.

One report said the cuts are hampering the department’s “core functions,” including payroll, community education programs, and the Office of Equity and Human Resources, which handles personnel complaints and workplace fairness. December 4th memo Written by Fire Chief Christine Crowley.

Crowley said in the memo that the $7 million reduction in overtime variable hours, or “v-hours,” would “help departments prepare for, train for, and respond to large-scale emergencies such as wildfires. “Our capabilities have been severely limited.”

The memo says the loss of overtime funding will reduce the department’s ability to conduct tasks such as testing radio equipment, completing pilot training and conducting brush gap inspections “critical to reducing fire risk in high-risk areas.” His ability is said to be hindered.

Crowley Appears on FOX11 on Fridaywas asked if the city of Los Angeles had failed her and her department. After many questions, she said yes.

City Administrator Matt Szabo, who prepares the city’s budget, said overtime for the entire fire department, counting all categories, actually increased by nearly $18 million in this year’s budget. Additionally, he said the budget cuts did not affect the number or hours of firefighters who responded to the Palisades fire.

“The fire department has the authority to commit the necessary emergency resources, and those costs will be covered year after year,” Szabo said.

Bass, who attended a news conference earlier this week, echoed that message, saying the fire department cuts “haven’t had an impact on what we’ve been going through the last few days.”

President Freddy Escobar Los Angeles United Firefighters Local 112said he doesn’t blame Bass for its handling of fire department spending.
At the same time, he said, “the fire chief doesn’t have the resources to staff the people he needs” to address the city’s public safety needs.

“Unfortunately, everything was going to be a disaster,” Escobar said in an interview. “And it happened with 80, 85 mph winds.”

Jack Humphreyville of the Neighborhood Council Budget Advocates, a watchdog group, said the fire department will have to scale back operations to make way for raises for staff. Now, he said, employee overtime due to the Palisades fire and the raises granted to all city employees will further exacerbate the city’s financial strain, at least in the short term.

“I think this city is facing a world of real hurt,” he said.

In May, the City Council approved the mayor’s 2024-25 budget, reducing the mayor’s proposed fire department spending cuts from $23 million to $17 million. For example, City Councilor Tracy Park was able to: recover funds For mechanics in a small number of departments.

As part of the budget, more than $100 million in salary increases was transferred to an account known as the “unfunded balance,” which acts as a holding tank for expenses that are expected but not finalized. is fulfilled. About half of that money was set aside for raises for firefighters, Szabo said.

Because the city’s Labor Bargaining Committee, made up of Bass and four city council members, had not yet signed the agreement, the funds went to that account rather than the fire department’s account. firefighter contract, Zabo said. The agreement would have required the fire union to vote on ratification by its members, but it could have been rejected, requiring further negotiations.

According to a city analysis, that four-year agreement includes 3% annual raises and improved medical benefits, bringing the same kind of raises that Los Angeles police officers received a year ago. It is said that The starting salary for firefighters is $85,315, not including overtime or bonuses, and is expected to rise to $90,514 in the coming months, Szabo said.

Szabo said he will ask Congress in the coming weeks to move the $53 million earmarked for firefighter pay increases from the unappropriated balance into the fire department’s budget. He said the salary agreement would consume an additional $23 million in increased pension and health care costs.

Separately, the Legislature will include an additional $27 million in the fire department’s budget for medical patient transport by city paramedics, a service that would be reimbursed by the state.

These changes were planned last year and will increase the fire department’s operating budget to $963 million, a 9% increase from a year ago, Szabo said.

Tracking spending at city public safety agencies is a difficult task. Both police and fire departments routinely overspend their budgets, especially when emergencies or unexpected public safety needs arise.

Bass’ first budget as mayor covers the 2023-24 fiscal year and allocates $837 million for the fire department. By the time she released her 2024-25 budget, her office expected fire spending to exceed $900 million in the first year.

Last month, Sabo reported to parliament The fire department is already starting to exceed its budget for the new budget year due to expenses such as overtime pay.