Budget
At their June 11 meeting, Lakewood City Council Members approved a two-year city budget that runs from July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2026.
Lakewood’s budget is balanced in its priorities, with almost equal spending on public safety, public works/infrastructure, and recreation and community services (each constitute about 25% of the city budget).
For this budget, public works/infrastructure spending will total 29% of the budget, with highlight below.
Features of the 2024-26 budget include:
- $65 million for capital improvement projects—a record in Lakewood—including major renovations to the Weingart Senior Center and Palms Park community building, along with playground renovations to Biscailuz, Boyar and Cherry Cove parks.
- $5 million for sidewalk repairs, allowing Lakewood to repair 520,000 square feet of sidewalks over the next two years—the largest sidewalk repair effort in the city’s history.
- Continued funding for extra hours of Deputy Sheriff patrols, overnight Security Guard patrols and a Community Prosecutor who has proven valuable in using the legal system to make progress on many public safety and quality of life issues in neighborhoods.
- Funding for a new Lead Public Safety Specialist who will be in the field helping lead an existing team of nine Public Safety Officers, who are specially trained civilian staff performing important support duties that free up Deputy Sheriffs so they can spend more time on patrol and responding to calls for service. Lakewood’s investment in a team of well-trained PSOs (formerly known as Community Safety Officers) is one reason why Deputy Sheriff response time in Lakewood is consistently faster than the average in L.A. County.
Lakewood Finance Director Jose Gomez told the council that the city is able to maintain its existing services, make some limited but strategic improvements, and carry out needed renovations on its parks and infrastructure because of the financial stability provided by Lakewood voter-passed Measure L.
Lakewood will end the two-year budget with an estimated $3 million surplus.
“These current surpluses are a very strategic part of our long-term plan for success with Measure L,” said Gomez. “We need these surpluses in the early years of Measure L to pay down long-term costs so that we extend the benefits of Measure L for many years into the future, as promised to our residents. Lakewood is in good financial shape now, and we have the means to stay in good shape for the long term if we continue to be careful with our budgeting.”
Budget documents
Lakewood Proposed Budget FY 2024-2026(PDF, 11MB)
Lakewood Budget FY23-24 Revised(PDF, 6MB)
Lakewood Budget FY 2022-2024(PDF, 5MB)
Lakewood Budget FY 2020-2022(PDF, 4MB)
Lakewood Budget FY 2018-2020(PDF, 1MB)
Lakewood Budget FY 2016-2018(PDF, 3MB)
Lakewood Budget FY 2014-2016(PDF, 17MB)
Lakewood Budget FY 2013-2014(PDF, 3MB)
Lakewood Budget FY 2012-2013(PDF, 2MB)
Lakewood Budget FY 2011-2012(PDF, 4MB)