The Los Angeles budget prioritizes spending on the homeless over fire services

Los Angeles’ budget is in the spotlight as more wildfires is raging around town amid revelations that Mayor Karen Bass slashed the fire department’s budget last year while prioritizing spending on the city’s homeless population.

For the financial year 2023-2024, Los Angeles budgeted $837 million for the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD), which was about 65% of the size of the homeless budget of $1.3 billion.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass cut the Los Angeles Fire Department’s budget by more than $17 million last year. She originally proposed cutting it by $23 million. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images/File)

An analysis by LA’s city comptroller last year found that about half of the homelessness budget remained unspent.

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From the 2023-2024 to 2024-2025 budgets, the LAFD’s budget was reduced by over $17 million from $837,191,237 to $819,637,423.

Firefighters battle winds and flames as homes go up in flames in Malibu, California, along Pacific Coast Highway near Carbon Canyon Road on Wednesday. (David Crane/MediaNews Group/Los Angeles Daily News via Getty Images)

Bass had proposed a larger budget cut to the LAFD, about $23 million, but it was not passed.

FOX Business has reached out to Bass’ office for comment on the reasoning behind the cuts.

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The homelessness budget was also reduced in the 2024-2025 budget, but remained larger than the LAFD budget.

Tents for the homeless are seen on a Skid Row sidewalk in Los Angeles on August 16, 2023. (Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images)

Los Angeles is currently at the center of four ongoing wildfires — the Eaton, Palisades, Woodley and Hurst fires — that have consumed countless homes and businesses and claimed two lives.

The ongoing wildfires in Southern California. (Fox News)

The fires have prompted evacuation orders for more than 30,000 people and come as California faces an insurance crisis after several insurers fled the state largely because of the costs associated with wildfire losses.

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Of 20 of the most destructive wildfires in California, seven occurred in the past five years, the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection reported. In terms of economic costs, the 2018 Camp Fire caused $10 billion in damage, the 2017 Tubbs Fire cost $8.7 billion, and the 2018 Woolsey Fire cost $4.2 billion.

FOX News’ Anders Hagstrom and Kristen Altus contributed to this report.