What are city council discretionary funds?
Each Los Angeles City Council District has its own set of funds that are directed by the local Councilmember. These funds come from multiple sources, and they’re not all distributed or used the same. Their size varies from fund to fund and District to District, and some come with strings attached.
FISCAL YEAR 2022-23
From July 1st, 2022 to June 30th, 2023
Not all Funds (and Districts) Are Created Equal
Council discretionary funds come from a variety of sources. Some funds are divided equally among all 15 districts, while others vary District by District. Additionally, some of the funds can be used entirely at a Councilmember’s discretion, while others are only allowed to be spent on specific purposes.
The graph below shows how much each Council District spent from different funds during fiscal year 2022-23. Click on any Council District on the graph to see details about how exactly that money was spent.
Fund Descriptions
Community Services Fund
Each Council District is appropriated money from the Community Services Fund through the annual City budget process. Each Council District gets an equal share of money from this fund. For the 2023-24 fiscal year, this amount is $94,533 per district.
AB 1290 Redevelopment Fund
AB 1290 is a state law passed in 1993 that allocates a certain amount of property tax revenue to be used in specific redevelopment areas. This process was initially administered by the Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency until 2011, after which the funds were put under the direction of Council offices. The amount each district gets varies, depending on the locations and revenues of the various redevelopment areas.
Street Furniture Revenue Fund
This fund receives 50% of all revenue that the City collects from advertisements placed on street furniture (bus stops, kiosks, newsstands, etc.) The money is divided equally among all 15 Council Districts and is for transit-related services and equipment, projects to help public transit users, safety improvements for pedestrians, and public amenities.
Neighborhood Service Enhancements Fund
Similar to the Community Services Fund, this money is allocated through the City budget process, and every Council District gets an even share. No funds were allocated for the 2022-23 or 2023-24 fiscal years, although each District got $2 million in 2021-22.
Council District Real Property Fund
This fund collects 50% of all net proceeds from each sale or lease of City-owned real property, plus a portion of the franchise fees from oil pipelines. The money is distributed according to the Council Districts the real property or oil pipelines are located in, so the amount available to each Council office varies.
Money from this fund is for the acquisition of real property interests, the construction or maintenance of improvements upon real property owned by the City, the funding of human service programs, or for approved economic development projects or programs, including public infrastructure projects, development and operational subsidies.
Council District Public Benefit Funds
These funds are made up of gifts, contributions, and bequests. Each expenditure must be authorized by the Councilmember. Not all Council Districts have these funds, and only two spent money during fiscal year 2022/23.
CD 6: Council District 6 Public Benefit Trust Fund (50C)
CD 14: Council District 14 Public Benefits Trust Fund (57L)
Council Fee Subsidy Account
This fund can be used to subsidize 50% of the cost of City Fees for certain special events.
