Mayor Karen Bass will deliver her State of the City speech on Monday with a projected $1 billion budget deficit and recovery from January’s wildfires among the challenges facing Los Angeles.
Bass will outline her priorities in a noon speech at City Hall.
The mayor is likely to discuss the city’s rebuilding efforts, largely focusing on Pacific Palisades, which was devastated by January’s wildfires. In addition, she will share her plans for reshaping city government as Los Angeles faces a nearly $1 billion deficit as a result of overspending, liability payouts, labor contracts and lower-than-anticipated tax revenues.
In March, a top financial city adviser warned elected officials that the city’s grim outlook for FY 2025-26 will require tough decisions and could lead to thousands of layoffs. City Administrative Officer Matt Szabo attributed the city’s condition to declining tax revenue and rising costs.
January’s wildfires also exacerbated financial issues.
At the time, Bass promised “fundamental change in the way the city operates.”
The mayor also will likely speak on LA’s homelessness crisis following a recent developments over the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA).
The county Board of Supervisors advanced a proposal to create its own department to manage regional homeless services, effectively defunding LAHSA – a joint city-county agency criticized for inefficiency, waste and lack of transparency. LAHSA officials said the agency grew rapidly in recent years and has since taken steps to address those issues.
A staggering $1 billion budget deficit projected for the City of Los Angeles took many by surprise but City Controller Kenneth Mejia says he’s been sounding the alarm for the past two years. Darsha Philips reports for the NBC4 News at 11 p.m. on March 20, 2025.
The new county agency is expected to be in place by Jan. 1, with all funding pulled from LAHSA and transferred to the new department by July 1, 2026.
Meanwhile, city officials have expressed a need to hire more police officers in a bid to improve public safety and prepare for global events coming to the region. In March, Bass joined Police Chief Jim McDonnell to announce that the overall crime rate in the city declined in 2024, with homicides dropping 14% and shooting victims decreasing by 19%.
Immigration is also likely to be addressed, as the Trump administration continues its crackdown on “sanctuary cities” and threatens to pull related funding.Bass may also touch on other federal policies and their potential impact on the city’s economy, travel and tourism industries.