Value was reduced from US$837 million to US$820 million; corporation said that measure would limit operations capacity
The Los Angeles Fire Department, in the United States, warned the mayor (Democratic Party) about the US$ 17 million cut in the corporation’s budget. A document was sent to Bass in December 2024 with warnings about the lack of resources. Here is it (PDF – 17 MB, in English).
The document said there was a 2% (or $17 million) reduction in the Budget from fiscal year 2023-2024 to fiscal year 2024-2025. The newspaper Los Angeles Times that despite budget cuts, the city had granted an additional $53 million increase in salaries and $58 million for new fire trucks and other equipment in November.
The Budget for the 2023-2024 fiscal year was US$837 million, but expenses totaled US$904 million – or US$67 million more than expected. THE CBS said the surplus was from unbudgeted contracts, unused sick leave and employee overtime.
The alert to city hall states that the US$17 million reduction would limit “severely” the corporation’s ability to act in large-scale emergencies.
In an interview with Fox 11 Los AngelesLos Angeles Fire Department Chief Kristin Crowley stated that Mayor Bass failed her and her department.
Crowley said she is not in the political business and is focused on getting firefighters funded and trained. “Every decision I make will be based on what my firefighters need.”these. “There were cuts and it affected our ability to provide services”.
Bass denied that the budget reduction has impacted the department’s ability to deal with fires. In addition to the drought, he blamed the winds “unprecedented”.
Bass of Los Angeles also stated that she and Crowley are “focused” in putting out active fires and that “any differences” between the two“will be resolved privately”. For the head of the Fire Department, the budget is not “sustainable”.
