The City of West Hollywood has proposed a $128 million dollar budget — over $3,500 per resident — for the fiscal year that starts in July and runs through June 2018. Compared to the current budget, more money would go to day-to-day operations (over $121 million) and less to longer-term capital projects (over $6 million). That is according to a new report by WeHo By the Numbers based on city data.
Taxes and other revenues are expected to cover $125 million of the $128 million in spending. The remaining $3 million will come from reserves (money the city saved up in prior years).
The city’s biggest source of revenue is the transient occupancy (hotel) tax. It provides over 20% of total revenues. The city expects to collect about $26 million in hotel taxes in the coming fiscal year. Other big sources of revenue include property taxes ($17 million), sales taxes ($16 million) and parking meters fees and fines ($13 million).
About half of the budget ($61 million) is for contracted services such as those from the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department . Most of the rest goes to pay the city staff ($38 million), make payments on the city’s debt ($13 million), and cover all other operating costs ($9 million). The budget also includes $6 million for capital projects, which involve buying, building or repairing major assets.
Each city division has its own budgeted amount. The biggest-spending division pays for the sheriff’s contract. It has a proposed budget of $570 per resident. The next biggest amounts are for the city’s facilities ($330), parking ($310), social services and transit ($305) and streets and sewers ($220).
The report uses budget increases to quantify the city’s priorities. In the proposed budget, increases are clustered in areas such as:
• Public safety, including a $750,000 increase in sheriff’s staffing costs, $135,000 for more patrols by sheriff’s deputies, $100,000 for more security ambassadors, and $635,000 for increased security at Pride and Halloween.
• City facilities, including $1.2 million for improvements to City Hall, money for the Coast Playhouse and temporary office space at Koontz and $150,000 for micro-parks.
• Social services and transit, including a $325,000 increase in social services grants, $125,000 for a mental health professional teamed with a sheriff’s deputy, $100,000 for a new community needs assessment and money for a Sunset Boulevard entertainment district shuttle pilot.
• Planning, including $200,000 for urban design reviews, $100,000 for single-family housing design guidelines, more funding for historic preservation efforts and $300,000 for Sunset Strip improvements.
• Economic development, including a new arts grant coordinator, increased support for special events and a $750,000 increase in funding for Visit West Hollywood, the city’s visitor and tourism organization.
To find out more, see the full report, How big is West Hollywood’s proposed 2018 budget?
The City of West Hollywood, like all cities, receives its share of tax revenues from the State and Fed based on number of occupants, sales taxes, hotel taxes, property taxes and various grants they obtain. But based on the published budget and articles such as this, the image presented is less then a rich treasury. While we spend money on various public services and promote more hotels, mixed use buildings all designed to increase revenues, we also give waivers in exchange for fees (bribes) which have hurt our environment (less parking, no greens, no setbacks, more congestion, etc.) There is… Read more »