The city of Los Angeles has nearly $73 million sitting idle in 203 special funds that haven’t been touched in at least two years, including 62 funds that have been untapped for more than a decade, according to a new city controller’s report released Friday, July 7.
City Controller Kenneth Mejia recommended that city departments spend about $51 million, including approximately $10 million earmarked for housing and homelessness programs, and called on city departments to submit plans for spending the money.
He also recommended terminating a number of funds and redeploying the balances held in them, or returning them to the original source, which includes about $600,000 that could be redirected back to the city’s general fund or general fund reserves.
“Our commitment to transparency and accountability impels us to continually press for maximizing the impact of public resources,” Mejia wrote in the report. “Prudent reserves are vital for long-term fiscal sustainability. Yet letting funds sit in obscure accounts for years at a time shortchanges the people of Los Angeles at a time when they are insisting on greater responsiveness from their City government.”
According to the report, as of April 30, about $14 million in idle funds were designated for community safety, $11.7 million for economic development, $11 million for sanitation and environment, and nearly $10.1 million for housing and homelessness.
The mayor’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the $10 million that Mejia is recommending be spent on housing and homelessness programs. Mayor Karen Bass has made combating homelessness and increasing L.A.’s housing stock her priority since taking office in December.
Other untapped funds included about $7.4 million meant to go toward parks programs, $4.5 million for social services, $3.1 million for transportation, $1.9 million for public works and $1.1 million for street-related expenditures.
Jake Flynn,…
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