At Los Angeles City Hall, a very local turf war is brewing over trash. As Mayor Karen Bass’s proposed FY 2026–27 budget moves through the City Council, officials are arguing over whether a coastal cleanup program should stay concentrated on the beaches or be stretched across the entire city. On one side are leaders who say shorelines and fragile waterways need their own dedicated crews. On the other are council members who say limited sanitation staff and dollars should be shared more evenly across neighborhoods. The decision will determine whether the coast keeps its own cleanup pot or whether those crews are folded into broader street sweeping and illegal‑dumping work across Los Angeles.
According to NBC Los Angeles, the mayor’s office says the CARE+ program itself stays in the budget at about $50 million, while the proposal scraps the extra coastal‑only line item and adds roughly $11 million for citywide street sweeping and illegal‑dumping enforcement. During a council hearing, Councilmember Traci Park argued to keep a coastal focus and said the teams are needed to protect beaches and habitat areas. Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky countered that she could not back another year of geography‑specific teams while the rest of the city is short on crews.
What the Mayor's Budget Would Do
Mayor Karen Bass has put forward a $14.85 billion proposed budget that centers on homelessness response, public safety and basic city services. It calls for more money for street sweeping, bulky‑item pickup and dedicated illegal‑dumping enforcement across Los Angeles. The administration casts the coastal shift as a way to spread sanitation help citywide instead of keeping extra funds locked to beach‑area CARE+ operations, according to Mayor Bass' office.
How CARE+ Teams Operate and What They Cost
CARE+ teams are larger sanitation deployments that pair environmental compliance inspectors with refuse truck operators and maintenance staff to clear trash, hazardous waste and encampment debris. A City Administrative Officer memo put the direct annual cost for one coastal CARE+ team at about $1.89 million, a price tag officials have pointed to while debating expansion, according to a CAO memo. The coastal setup has been used in Venice, where Councilmember Traci Park helped launch a Coastal CARE+ operation, as reported by ABC7. Critics say the sweep‑style approach can prioritize clearing encampments over long‑term services for unhoused residents, a concern raised by Human Rights Watch.
What's Next
The fate of the coastal funds and the final shape of the cleanup program will be decided during upcoming City Council budget hearings. The Budget and Finance Committee is set to comb through department budgets and potential reallocations in the coming weeks. If the council signs off on the mayor’s plan, the extra coastal‑only money would be cut and those resources could be shifted into citywide sweeping and enforcement. That move is expected to draw resistance from beach neighborhoods and environmental advocates, according to NBC Los Angeles.
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