The Mayor of Los Angeles Takes a Pay Cut Amidst $1 Billion Budget Deficit

Last weekend, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass confirmed that she would be taking a pay cut as her office scrambles to find ways to slash the city budget amidst a nearly $1 billion deficit.

"The mayor is taking a pay cut and Mayor's Office staff are not taking their regularly scheduled cost of living adjustments office-wide in June 2025 (4%), December 2025 (2%), and June 2026 (4)," explained Deputy Mayor of Communications Zach Seidl.

The cut would need to be significant to have any sort of impact against the massive budgetary shortfall. Currently, the Mayor of Los Angeles is one of the highest paid elected positions in the state at $301,000 a year.

• On par with Associate Supreme Court Justices ($303,000 a year)
• Making it more than the Vice President ($235,000 – $289,000 a year) and the Speaker of the House ($223,000 a year)

The city of Los Angeles has been scrambling to solve their looming budget crisis for the last few months. While many in the city were anticipating some sort of budget crunch for the 2025-2026 fiscal year, the announcement by the Los Angeles City Administrative Officer in March putting the figure at nearly $1 billion shocked many.

1. $61 million coming from the existing budget gap from the last fiscal year
2. $315 million in overall declining revenues
3. $100 million in increased liability claims
4. $275 million in reserve fund replenishment caused by emergency spending for the Palisades fire
5. $80 million in solid waste fee subsidies
6. $250 million in scheduled pay raises for city employees

Mayor Bass responded last month by proposing huge spending rollbacks and major budgetary cuts. This included the layoffs of 1,600 employees and the elimination of 1,000 positions, with over 400 LAPD employees being on the chopping block alone.

"The reality is that our city faces a more than $800 million dollar deficit," said Bass last month.

"Cities like ours are going through challenging economic times across the nation. Turmoil and uncertainty from Washington and a slowing economy are causing lower revenue projections to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars. Liability settlements have tripled from backed up lawsuits during the pandemic and uncapped damages," she continued.

However, city employee groups and labor unions have vowed to fight the cuts and layoffs as the proposal is reviewed by the City Council. Mayor Bass also faced criticism for not doing more personally to reduce the deficit.

Many have suggested that she follow Mayor Lurie’s example in San Francisco and take a $1 salary for the upcoming year. While $300,000 wouldn’t make much of a dent in the deficit overall, it would be something, and would be the equivalent to at least a few Los Angeles city worker salaries.

A more finite reduced salary figure for Bass is expected soon, with the Los Angeles City Council currently working towards final consideration for the budget proposal in June.