Budget · Obligations
What does the City owe?
The City's adopted budget for FY2026-27 sets aside $1.52B of the General Fund for its yearly contributions to its two retirement systems, LACERS and LAFPP; $209.7M for payments on lease-financed debt; and $205.4M for liability claims. Together that is $1.94B, or 22.5% of the $8.60B General Fund. In FY2025-26, the most recent complete fiscal year, the City Controller's checkbook recorded $203.1M in liability payouts.
What this year's budget sets aside
Three General Fund lines in the FY2026-27 adopted budget, against the same lines a year earlier. Shares are of the $8.60B General Fund.
| Budget line | FY2025-26 | FY2026-27 | Share of General Fund |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pension Notes & Debt ServiceContributions to LACERS and LAFPP | $1.41B | $1.52B | 17.7% |
| Capital Finance AdministrationLease-revenue bonds and other lease financing | $198.9M | $209.7M | 2.4% |
| Liability ClaimsSettlements and judgments | $187.4M | $205.4M | 2.4% |
| Total | $1.80B | $1.94B | 22.5% |
The first column is the prior year's adopted budget. Line names are the budget's own. Despite its name, the Pension Notes & Debt Service line is the City's pension contribution: it repays the short-term notes the City issues to pay LACERS and LAFPP in advance (see pension contributions below).
Debt payments
What the General Fund pays each year on the City's lease-financed borrowing, the separate budget line for general obligation bonds, and the City's credit ratings.
Bond Redemption & Interest pays the City's general obligation bonds. It is a separate line in the budget and is not included in the General Fund figures on this page.
Capital Finance Administration by year
| Fiscal year | Adopted | Spent |
|---|---|---|
| FY2026-27 (in progress) | $209.7M | — |
| FY2025-26 | $198.9M | $208.0M |
| FY2024-25 | $212.3M | $227.0M |
| FY2023-24 | $201.9M | $224.8M |
| FY2022-23 | $256.1M | $231.6M |
| FY2021-22 | $252.0M | $243.8M |
| FY2020-21 | $240.0M | $187.6M |
| FY2019-20 | $255.3M | $216.6M |
| FY2018-19 | $252.2M | $266.8M |
| FY2017-18 | $241.6M | $224.7M |
| FY2016-17 | $230.1M | $211.5M |
General Fund only. The line pays lease-revenue bonds issued through the Municipal Improvement Corporation of Los Angeles (MICLA), commercial paper and equipment lease-purchases, as its accounts in the Controller's data name them. “Spent” is actual expense as the Controller records it; the year in progress shows only its adopted amount.
Credit ratings on the City's general obligation bonds
| Agency | Rating | Latest action | Outlook |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kroll | AA | DowngradedMay 2025 | Negative |
| Moody's | Aa3 | DowngradedMar 2026 | Stable |
| Fitch | AAA | AffirmedMar 2026 | Stable |
| S&P | AA- | DowngradedApr 2025 | Negative |
Pension contributions
The City pays its yearly contributions to its two retirement systems in advance, from the proceeds of short-term tax and revenue anticipation notes, and the General Fund repays the notes within the year. LACERS covers civilian employees; the Fire and Police Pension Plans (LAFPP) cover sworn police and firefighters.
| Fiscal year | LACERS | LAFPP | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2026-27adopted budget | $828.6M | $691.6M | $1.52B |
| FY2025-26paid | $703.1M | $633.4M | $1.34B |
| FY2024-25paid | $706.0M | $660.0M | $1.37B |
| FY2023-24paid | $675.8M | $637.3M | $1.31B |
| FY2022-23paid | $636.5M | $660.9M | $1.30B |
| FY2021-22paid | $601.4M | $722.0M | $1.32B |
| FY2020-21paid | $532.8M | $738.9M | $1.27B |
| FY2019-20paid | $559.3M | $705.1M | $1.26B |
| FY2018-19paid | $488.4M | $687.9M | $1.18B |
| FY2017-18paid | $450.8M | $634.9M | $1.09B |
| FY2016-17paid | $459.4M | $616.2M | $1.08B |
| FY2015-16paid | $434.6M | $623.4M | $1.06B |
| FY2014-15paid | $411.5M | $625.0M | $1.04B |
| FY2013-14paid | $367.8M | $575.9M | $943.7M |
| FY2012-13paid | $341.6M | $506.1M | $847.7M |
| FY2011-12paid | $352.3M | $441.9M | $794.1M |
Amounts paid from the note-proceeds fund, as the Controller records them; the budget data names the two accounts “LACERS contributions” and “Pension contributions” (LAFPP). Completed years show actual expense; the current year shows the adopted amount. In FY2026-27 the two adopted amounts add up exactly to the budget's Pension Notes & Debt Service line.
LACERS reported a funded ratio of 76.3% and an unfunded actuarial accrued liability of $7.12B. It splits the City's contribution for that year between the retirement plan ($714.4M) and the retiree health plan ($97.1M), a 12% share for retiree health.
The Fire and Police Pension Plans do not publish their funded status in the City's open data, so it is not shown here. LAFPP's annual reports are the source for it.
LACERS's figures come from its own Key Facts dataset, on its own fiscal-year labels. They are not the same measure as the prepayments in the table above, so the two should not be compared directly.
Lawsuit and liability payouts
Payments the City made to settle claims and lawsuits, from the Controller's checkbook, net of cancelled checks. Fiscal years run July to June. FY2026-27 is a partial year, through Sep 9, 2026.
| Fiscal year | Value |
|---|---|
| FY2017-18 | $107.0M |
| FY2018-19 | $103.3M |
| FY2019-20 | $126.9M |
| FY2020-21 | $87.2M |
| FY2021-22 | $91.1M |
| FY2022-23 | $169.5M |
| FY2023-24 | $254.8M |
| FY2024-25 | $280.9M |
| FY2025-26 | $203.1M |
Complete fiscal years only.
| Fiscal year | Adopted budget | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| FY2026-27to Sep 9, 2026 | $205.4M | $101.2M |
| FY2025-26 | $187.4M | $203.1M |
| FY2024-25 | $87.4M | $280.9M |
| FY2023-24 | $87.4M | $254.8M |
| FY2022-23 | $87.4M | $169.5M |
| FY2021-22 | $87.4M | $91.1M |
| FY2020-21 | $87.9M | $87.2M |
| FY2019-20 | $90.5M | $126.9M |
| FY2018-19 | $89.1M | $103.3M |
| FY2017-18 | $89.1M | $107.0M |
“Adopted budget” is the General Fund Liability Claims line as first adopted for each year, from the Controller budget and expenditures data; it does not include amounts added during the year. “Paid” is the checkbook's liability payout accounts. The checkbook's records for these accounts begin in FY2017-18.
By department or category
| Account | FY2025-26 | FY2024-25 | FY2026-27 to date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Police | $66.7M | $151.8M | $29.7M |
| Miscellaneous | $55.0M | $49.6M | $10.4M |
| Public Works, Street Services | $49.7M | $43.7M | $13.6M |
| Fire | $12.4M | $4.3M | $1.2M |
| Public Works, Sanitation | $7.6M | $6.6M | $16.1M |
| Transportation | $6.1M | $19.8M | $29.1M |
| Recreation and Parks | $4.9M | $2.8M | $1.2M |
| Public Works, Engineering | $650.0K | $2.3M | $0 |
| General Services | $137.5K | $0 | $0 |
Categories are the checkbook's liability payout accounts, most of them named for a department. Sorted by FY2025-26.
Individual payments are not listed. The payees in these accounts are often the people who brought the claims, or their attorneys, and a cancelled check sits beside its reissue as a negative entry, so a list of single payments would name private individuals and could show one settlement twice.
What this covers
- Adopted figures come from the Adopted Budget 2026-27 as summarized on the 2026-27 budget page. The City Controller's budget data lists all three lines on this page as General Fund appropriations, which is why they are stated as shares of the General Fund.
- Earlier years come from the Controller's budget and expenditures data; liability payouts from the Controller's checkbook; LACERS funded status from LACERS Key Facts. Contribution rates are from the City Administrative Officer's budget documents.
- Not shown, because no sourced figure is on file here: the City's total outstanding debt, LAFPP's funded status, and the cost of retiree health outside LACERS.
- Not counted: the budget's Human Resources Benefits line (employee benefits), the City's spending on outside lawyers and litigation, and the debt of the City's proprietary departments (Water and Power, Airports, Harbor).
- Payouts are payments as recorded. Corrections and cancelled checks appear as negative entries, and a year's figures can change as late entries post. The checkbook total for a year can differ slightly from the budget data's spending on the Liability Claims line.
- For LACERS membership, benefits paid and returns, and for each lawsuit category over time, see the pension and liability deep dives.
Download the data
The tables behind this page, with their official source, license and column dictionary.
- Lawsuit and claim payouts by accountCSV · JSON · About the table
- Pension, debt and liability budget linesCSV · JSON · About the table