Saddled with about $2 billion in fire recovery costs and the largest sex abuse case settlement in U.S. history, the Los Angeles County government is facing about $89 million in budget cuts.
To close the budget gap, the county will have to leave hundreds of vacant positions unfilled, but no layoffs are expected, said Fesia Davenport, the county’s chief executive, at a news briefing Monday.
The fire recovery estimate includes $1 billion in lost revenue, mostly from property taxes, and $1 billion to cover soil testing, debris removal and beach cleanup and other costs, Davenport said.
The county can be reimbursed by the federal government for some of those costs, but must front the money. Davenport said the reimbursements for the January fires, which devastated Altadena, Pacific Palisades and surrounding areas, could take years.
L.A. County announced this month that it planned to pay $4 billion to settle nearly 7,000 claims of child sexual abuse that occurred in juvenile facilities and foster homes, most from the 1980s through the 2000s. If approved by the Board of Supervisors later this month, it will be the largest sex abuse claims settlement in U.S. history. More here