Latest news with #Crosstown
Yahoo
21-03-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
L.A.'s parking enforcement problem
Los Angeles has a budget problem. Well, another budget problem. According to a recent report from independent news organization Crosstown LA, the city is fighting a losing war over parking and parking enforcement. Crosstown analyzed data provided by City Controller Kenneth Mejia, which showed that L.A. is spending tens of millions more on parking enforcement than it is receiving from parking tickets. In the fiscal year that ended in June 2024, after giving out 2 million parking tickets, the city collected about $110 million in parking fines. Meanwhile, according to Mejia's data, it was spending $88 million on parking enforcement expenses like salaries and equipment. But when the cost of pensions and other obligations and liabilities were added to the mix, that figure jumped to more than $176 million. A $65 million shortfall. A $65 million shortfall when the city is experiencing a significant budgetary crisis that it needs to address. The parking enforcement problem isn't new. The city hasn't made money by issuing parking tickets since 2016. But there doesn't seem to be any end in sight. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the existing problem with parking restrictions temporarily or permanently lifted in some places. Revenue in the fiscal year that ended in June 2021 was down 37% from the prior year. Fewer people are also commuting and filling the city centers than pre-pandemic times, meaning less cars overstaying their welcome or parking where they shouldn't. Steet sweeping tickets are lucrative for L.A. — but not enough And the existing budget crisis is likely to only make the problem worse, Crosstown says, citing an interview with Department of Transportation spokesman Colin Sweeney. Staff cuts and open positions left vacant are another main culprit for the decrease in parking enforcement fines. The City eliminated more than 60 positions in the 2024-25 budget, Sweeney said. Dozens of traffic officers have also retired. And since the COVID-19 pandemic, traffic officers have taken up different non-revenue-generating roles, initially helping with COVID-19 testing and vaccination sites, providing traffic control during events, and even helping with Mayor Karen Bass's pet project Inside Safe, which brings the unhoused off the streets and into more appropriate temporary housing. Sweeney says LADOT is advocating for more officers to be hired as part of the next city budget, and the department will hope its pitch will be heard before the budget is finalized April 21. To read the full story, including the methodology used by Crosstown, click here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
11-03-2025
- Yahoo
Illegal dumping in Los Angeles soars in first two months of 2025
Reports of illegal dumping in Los Angeles soared in the first two months of this year compared to the same period last year, according to data compiled by Crosstown LA. There were 22,046 reports of trash, furniture and other debris discarded illegally in the city in January and February, up 36%, according to the data news outlet. That's the highest number for that period dating back to at least 2018, based on publicly available data from the MyLA311 service. 'While illegal dumping may bring to mind a few trash bags dropped on a corner, it often means piles of construction debris, or even hazardous waste, tossed by a person or business seeking to avoid paying proper disposal fees,' Crosstown notes in its report. 'Materials are frequently dropped on sidewalks, in alleys or on vacant lots under cover of darkness.' In L.A.'s Council District 8, which encompasses much of South L.A., illegal dumping reports more than doubled from 2,118 in January-February 2024 to 3,329 in the first two months of this year. 'This situation is unacceptable,' said Council President and District 8 representative Marqueece Harris-Dawson told Crosstown LA. 'We are going after the big fish—the businesses trying to avoid construction debris and waste removal fees by illegally dumping their trash and hazards in our communities. We are absolutely going to make examples out of them and do it swiftly and very publicly until we shift this culture of anything goes, including profiting at all costs without regard for thy neighbor.' Van Nuys has seen the most illegal dumping reports so far this year, with 845. Click here to read Crosstown LA's full report>>> Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
