Hahn’s Budget Proposal Paints Rosy Fiscal Picture

Flush with revenue from a strong economy, Los Angeles Mayor James K. Hahn on Wednesday proposed a $5.95-billion budget for next year that would expand the police force, allow more streets to be repaved and add after-school programs.

With less than four weeks to go before the mayoral election, the budget offered a little something for everyone. Seniors, tourists and motorists all would benefit, according to Hahn deputies.

Even the City Ethics Commission would see a 14% increase in funding to boost its oversight of public officials. The commission has recently been looking into allegations that Hahn backers laundered political contributions to his last campaign.

Hahn’s budget proposal for the year beginning July 1 was outlined in a 151-page report, which generally paints a rosy fiscal picture. It stands in contrast to last year, when the mayor described the 2004-05 budget as “difficult.”

Under the proposed budget, spending will increase by $566 million next year, or 10.5%. The larger budget is possible because of increased revenue from hotel bed taxes and property taxes, among other taxes.

Aides to the mayor said that the priorities set by the city’s neighborhood councils weighed heavily in budgeting decisions -- and that public safety was No. 1.

“What we’re trying to do in this budget is show that by being thrifty, by exercising fiscal discipline over the last three years, what we’ve been able to do is get to a place where we can actually start adding services,” Hahn said.

Instead of the usual news conference to announce the budget, the mayor made his comments Wednesday in the living room of a home in Canoga Park, where he met with residents as part of his reelection campaign.

Councilman Jack Weiss, a frequent Hahn critic, immediately attacked the mayor for relying heavily on one-time savings to balance his budget.

Hahn’s budget transfers $280 million from the reserve fund, a 128% increase over the transfer in the previous budget.

“It’s his Christmas-in-April program,” Weiss said. “It’s deficit financing, Los Angeles-style. He has raided the city’s savings account in order to deficit-finance favorite programs.”

Hahn’s electoral opponent, Councilman Antonio Villaraigosa, made similar remarks in a statement, saying Hahn was raiding the city’s reserve fund. “It’s clear that this is just an election year budget that papers over our city’s fiscal situation and fails to present a long-term vision for our city. It’s flush with spending and remarkably short on savings.”

Deputy Mayor Doane Liu, however, said that the budget would still leave the reserve fund at $113 million and ridiculed Villaraigosa’s comments.

“That statement is so laughable, I can’t tell if he read it and didn’t understand it or if he didn’t read it at all,” he said.

The reserve fund is typically set aside for emergencies, such as earthquakes.

The mayor’s budget shows a city that has done some major belt-tightening to save that money. Much of the $280 million was saved with a hiring freeze and other efficiencies last year, along with $20 million from clamping down on workers’ compensation claims.

Aides to the mayor highlighted budget proposals that would expand services in South Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley, two key swing areas that Hahn needs for reelection.

The LA’s Best after-school program would be expanded by eight schools to cover 138 campuses. In 2001, Hahn promised to put the program in every elementary school in the Los Angeles Unified School District; his new budget would leave approximately 40 unserved.

And the city’s Department of Water and Power would transfer $190 million to the city’s general fund in the proposed budget. Last year, the DWP provided much more and then raised water rates, angering residents in the Valley, where greater amounts of water are used for landscaping. The rate hike triggered a state review.

Among the most prominent items was enough money to hire and train 720 police officers, which Hahn had announced Monday.

With attrition, the department would grow to 9,600 officers by the end of 2006 -- 370 more than this year but below the peak of more than 9,800 officers deployed seven years ago.

And it falls short of Chief William J. Bratton’s assessment that the LAPD needs 12,000 officers.

Other budget highlights:

* The Fire Department would receive an additional $31.8 million, to hire 120 more firefighters and to help pay for around-the-clock, paramedic-staffed ambulances at each fire station.

* City Atty. Rocky Delgadillo would receive an additional $460,000 to hire five more prosecutors to deal with gang issues.

* About $8.5 million would go to the MTA to help pay for two new light rail lines, the Gold Line extension to the Eastside and the Expo Line to Culver City. The projects combined are expected to cost well over $1 billion.

* A new program, Arts and Culture L.A., would have the convention bureau promote tourism tied to the city’s culture. The city is budgeting $2 million to match similar amounts by the county and the Broad Foundation.

* The budget would also fund a new spay and neuter clinic to help reduce the number of stray dogs in the city; increase affordable housing for seniors and others; and repair 500 miles of streets. Money would also be set aside for upgrading the Los Angeles Zoo, increasing tree trimming and graffiti removal.

Some other council members did not return calls or declined to comment, saying they needed time to review the budget.

The budget now goes to the City Council, where it will land on the desk of the chairman of the Budget and Finance Committee -- Bernard C. Parks, whom Hahn ousted as LAPD chief. Parks is a strict fiscal conservative.

The council has until June 1 to revise the budget and send it back to the mayor, who has line-item veto powers. The runoff election is May 17, meaning that Villaraigosa could by then be mayor-elect.

The budget proposal can be viewed online at www.lacity.org/mayor/budget.

Times staff writers Jessica Garrison and Jeffrey L. Rabin contributed to this report.