L.A. Residents Feel Pain of Budget Woes

May 12 -- Los Angeles is getting pummeled by economic woes beyond its control. Like so many Western cities, vital services are provided by the county. And L.A. County is $800 million in the red.

"The bleeding has to stop," said County Sheriff Lee Baca. "I can't take another hit in the fiscal year '04 -'05."

The sheriff's department, which provides support for the city's police, has cut 900 deputies and closed two jails. Baca says any more cutbacks will jeopardize public safety.

The Los Angeles Police Department is already suffering from its own manpower shortage, with an immediate need to hire more officers.

"My priority," said Mayor James Hahn at a recent news conference, "is to make our city the safest big city in America."

In these tough economic times, however, the only way to pay for those new officers is to raise fees — in this case by hiking the price for residential garbage collection to $10 a month, a two-thirds increase. And while that is not expected to entirely solve the problem, at least the city has that option.

L.A. County Cuts Services

L.A. county officials are more strapped. "We are at the bottom of the food chain," explained County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky. "We have nowhere to turn. We can't even raise taxes if we wanted to because constitutionally counties are precluded from doing that."

And so the county's only option is to cut back services — vital services the city depends on.

Some hospital facilities may have to be closed, warns Yaroslavsky, which would impact every resident of the city.

"Each of us is just a heart attack away from needing an emergency room, or a drunk driver away from needing a trauma center," he said.

Also on the chopping block: services for the homeless and abused children, firefighters, and lifeguards, who routinely pull people to safety at L.A.'s popular beaches.

That doesn't sit well with beachgoers.

"I'd cut back on something else instead of lifeguards. Someone who would save your life, I wouldn't cut back on that," said 15-year-old Michael Harter, playing with his brother in the surf.