Los Angeles libraries, already reeling from major cuts in local funding, would lose another $1.3 million in Gov. Jerry Brown's proposed budget.

The state budget slashes assistance to local libraries by $30.4 million. At today's Budget and Finance Committee hearing, Chief Legislative Analyst Gerry Miller said that would translate to $1.3 million in cuts for Los Angeles.

The budget's largest local impact is the phase-out of redevelopment. Miller said his office was still trying to assess how that would affect the city over the long term.


Update. Eliminating redevelopment is going to be an uphill battle, to say the least. In a statement, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa says that “any scenario that would completely eliminate the Redevelopment Zones and State Enterprise Zones is a non-starter.”

Today's budget meeting was called to discuss how to cut $62.7 million out of the budget, on the assumption that the city's controversial deal to lease nine parking garages will not go forward this year.

City Administrative Officer Miguel Santana has proposed adding 10 furlough days for most city workers, cutting graffiti removal by 50%, and a host of other cutbacks.

In a letter to the council, Villaraigosa urged the approval of the parking garage privatization under terms that maximize the value of the deal. This is to say, no subsidies for local retailers, and no below-market parking rates.

“Here's the hard truth: the era of free parking in Los Angeles is over,” Villaraigosa said.

This is a negotiation now, and to save the deal you'd think the mayor would show some flexibility. Apparently not.

There's already plenty of tension between the council and the mayor on this, as the council takes heat from the business community. Seems like the more the mayor digs in, the less the council will feel like working with him.

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