Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (KTLA-TV) |
LOS ANGELES -- What a difference a day or two makes. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is backing away from his call to shut down some city departments two days a week, saying the city unexpectedly got $30 million in increased property tax revenues.
"To all of our surprise, we've gotten an increase in revenues of $30 million more from property tax than we expected," Villaraigosa said Thursday to The Los Angeles Times.
The revelation comes two days after Villaraigosa proposed two furlough days a week for parks, libraries and other city agencies to prevent the city from running out of money.
With the unexpected revenue and the City Council's budget-balancing moves, Villaraigosa said the city might not be out of cash afterall.
The mayor rolled out his contingency plan for two-day-a-week furloughs on Tuesday, saying the city would be "out of cash by May 5th."
His announcement was in response to the Department of Water and Power, which reneged on its promise to transfer $73.5 million to the General Fund after the council vetoed its proposed rate hike.
The council had approved a rate hike of 0.6 of a cent per kilowatt hour and rejected the DWP board's counterproposal of 0.7 of a cent per kilowatt hour.
The DWP is still standing strong on its refusal to turn over the money.
The mayor said he would continue to ask the DWP board to transfer at least $20 million to the city.
Former DWP Commission President Nick Patsaouras has filed a ratepayer lawsuit against the utility to force open its books.
"To all of our surprise, we've gotten an increase in revenues of $30 million more from property tax than we expected," Villaraigosa said Thursday to The Los Angeles Times.
The revelation comes two days after Villaraigosa proposed two furlough days a week for parks, libraries and other city agencies to prevent the city from running out of money.
With the unexpected revenue and the City Council's budget-balancing moves, Villaraigosa said the city might not be out of cash afterall.
The mayor rolled out his contingency plan for two-day-a-week furloughs on Tuesday, saying the city would be "out of cash by May 5th."
His announcement was in response to the Department of Water and Power, which reneged on its promise to transfer $73.5 million to the General Fund after the council vetoed its proposed rate hike.
The council had approved a rate hike of 0.6 of a cent per kilowatt hour and rejected the DWP board's counterproposal of 0.7 of a cent per kilowatt hour.
The DWP is still standing strong on its refusal to turn over the money.
The mayor said he would continue to ask the DWP board to transfer at least $20 million to the city.
Former DWP Commission President Nick Patsaouras has filed a ratepayer lawsuit against the utility to force open its books.
