Los Angeles Mayor Garcetti's proposed budget calls for body cams, more firefighters

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announced his proposed city budget on Monday, touting it has the best and most collaborative that the city has seen.

The mayor acknowledged an uptick in violent crime, and that's why he wants to maintain 10,000 uniformed police officers in the field by using civilians in support roles.

The $8.5 billion budget proposal calls for purchasing 7,000 police body cameras, and funding more in-car digital cameras for police officers, along with an additional $5.5 million for the city's anti-gang program and $567,000 to expand a domestic abuse response program to all police stations.

The spending plan assumes revenues will be up 5.5 percent -- including property tax, sales tax and hotel tax revenue -- though Garcetti said he wants to take a "very disciplined approach" to the expected additional income.

"As we all know, we are digging ourselves out of a big hole caused by the Great Recession, so we are rebuilding our city's finances in a way that is responsible and delivers long-term stability and balance in the city," he said.

Garcetti wants to hire 180 new firefighters and reduce response times for ambulances by purchasing more ambulances for the department.

The budget also calls for cleaner streets and pothole repairs.

As part of a lawsuit that was settled recently with disabled residents and advocates, the city will spend $31 million a year to repair broken sidewalks.

The mayor also wants to trim trees that sometimes cause the broken sidewalks. The plan is to service more than 57,000 trees in the city.

Garcetti says the economy has improved, and city revenue is growing.

"Our back to basics agenda is delivering results, 70,000 more jobs here in Los Angeles. You can feel it in our neighborhoods through revitalization that we've seen," he said. "More people choosing to live, work, visit and study in Los Angeles than ever before."

The city is holding the line on civilian workers. Garcetti says he does not want to give the 20,000 employees any raises for the time being. Talks with city employee unions have dragged on since their contracts expired last year, and some workers are threatening to go on strike.

In this budget, the mayor expects there will be more money to increase the reserve fund. He expects it will be $304 million -- the largest ever for the city.

City News Service contributed to this report.