Alex Villanueva discusses the devastating local response to the California wildfires on “The Big Money Show.”
Los Angeles' budget is in the spotlight Multiple fires Outrage around the city amid revelations that Mayor Karen Bass cut the fire department's budget last year while prioritizing spending on the city's homeless population.
For the fiscal year 2023-2024, Los Angeles The budget for the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) was $837 million, which was about 65% of the $1.3 billion homeless budget.
Mayor Karen Bass cut the Los Angeles Fire Department's budget by more than $17 million last year. He originally proposed cutting it by $23 million. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images/File)
An analysis by L.A.'s city comptroller last year found that nearly half the budget goes to the homeless.
California wildfires sweep across Los Angeles County, forcing thousands to flee their homes
From the 2023-2024 to 2024-2025 budget, the LAFD's budget was reduced from $837,191,237 to $819,637,423, a decrease of more than $17 million.
Firefighters battle winds and flames as houses burn along Pacific Coast Highway near Carbon Canyon Road in the Palisades fire in Malibu, Calif., on Jan. 8, 2025. (David Crane/MediaNews Group/Los Angeles Daily News via Getty Images)
Bass proposed larger budget cuts to the LAFD, about $23 million, but it was not accepted.
FOX Business has reached out to Bass' office for comment about the reasoning behind the cut.
A Los Angeles area college campus has been shut down as wildfires spread
The budget for the homeless was also cut in the 2024-2025 budget but was larger than the LAFD budget.
Tents for the homeless are seen on a Skid Row sidewalk in Los Angeles on Aug. 16, 2023. (Frederick J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images)
Los Angeles is currently at the center of four ongoing wildfires, the Eaton, Palisades, Woodley, and Hearst fires, which have consumed Numerous homes and businesses and claimed two lives.
The ongoing wildfires in Southern California (Fox News)
Wildfires have prompted evacuation orders for more than 30,000 people, and it's time for California to confront the situation. Insurance crisis After many insurers fled the state, largely because of the costs associated with wildfire losses.
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Seven of the 20 most destructive California wildfires have occurred in the past five years, according to the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. In terms of economic costs, the 2018 Camp Fire cost $10 billion, the Tubbs Fire cost $8.7 billion in 2017, and the Woolsey Fire cost $4.2 billion in 2018.
Fox News' Anders Hagstrom and Kristen Altus contributed to this report.