This limits the City’s ability to steward existing parks and facilities and fully realize the potential of these critical public spaces. Interviews with RAP staff, a review of RAP budget documents, and benchmarking against peer cities revealed that:

• RAP’s operating budget is constrained by General Fund reimbursements. More than one-third (40%) of RAP’s operating budget in FY 2025-2026 is allocated to the General Fund to pay for staff benefits, utilities, and refuse collection. This growing and significant amount limits the funds available for RAP to operate and maintain parks.
• RAP’s operating budget has increased more slowly than the City budget overall. While the City’s operating budget grew by 68% between FY 2009 and FY 2023, RAP’s operating budget grew by half as much (35%) over the same period, after accounting for General Fund reimbursements.
• RAP manages a growing park system with a shrinking workforce, straining its ability to maintain facilities, offer programs, and care for parks and open spaces. Full-time staffing decreased by 28% and part-time staffing decreased by 9% between FY 2008 and FY 2025, while park space acreage and facilities have increased.
• The City of Los Angeles invests less in parks per capita than peer cities, limiting park quality, programs, and access. At $92, LA’s per-capita park investment is lower than that of all other benchmarked cities.

To help ensure the accessibility, safety, and quality of Los Angeles parks, the City must explore sustainable and equitable funding solutions to address RAP’s budget challenges. New, dedicated funding streams for RAP could include voter-approved sales or property taxes, municipal bonds, or partnerships with nonprofits and conservancies. Additionally, RAP can leverage funds from aligned initiatives like Measure W to help close funding gaps. Ensuring adequate investment in LA’s parks is critical not just for parks and green space, but also supports public health, environmental resilience and economic vitality throughout the City.¹“The Power of Parks to Promote Health: A Special Report,” Trust for Public Land. 24 May 2023.

RAP is one of only two city departments—the other being the Library Department—for which the City of Los Angeles Charter explicitly provides financial support. Beginning in 1925, the charter required an appropriation of 7¢ per $100 in assessed value for the Department of Parks and 4¢ per $100 in assessed value for the Department of Playgrounds and Recreation ²Chesebro, Ray L., Frederick von Schrader, and William H. Neal. Charter of the City of Los Angeles: Annotated, 1935 ed., Sections 173 (p. 107) and 191 (p. 121). Los Angeles, CA: Parker, Stone & Baird Co., 1935. As adopted January 22, 1925, amended through January 9, 1935. With annotations for amendments on January 7, 1937, April 29, 1937, and May 14, 1937. In 1937, the Department of Playgrounds and Recreation’s appropriation was increased to 6¢ per $100 in assessed value ³Chesebro, Ray L., Frederick von Schrader, and William H. Neal. Charter of the City of Los Angeles: Annotated, 1935 ed., Section 191 (p. 121). Los Angeles, CA: Parker, Stone & Baird Co., 1935. As adopted January 22, 1925, amended through January 9, 1935. With annotations for amendments on January 7, 1937, April 29, 1937, and May 14, 1937. A 1947 charter amendment merged the two departments into a new Department of Recreation and Parks, which was allocated 13¢ per $100 in assessed value—equal to the combined allocations of the two separate departments.⁴Chesebro, Ray L., William H. Neal, and Bourke Jones. Charter of the City of Los Angeles: Annotated, 1948 ed., Section 173 (p. 142). Los Angeles, CA: Parker & Company, 1948. Effective July 1, 1925, amended through June 16, 1947.

In 1978, the passage of Proposition 3 changed the property assessment ratio from 25% of total property value.⁵“Tax Computing: Yes on Prop. 3 …” Los Angeles Times, October 31, 1979.⁶Bergholz, Richard. “Spending, Busing Curbs OKd.” Los Angeles Times, November 7, 1979. In response, the City Charter was amended to adjust RAP’s appropriation by an equal amount to maintain its prior level of funding, which equated to 3.25¢ per $100 in the newly assessed value.⁷Hahn, James K. Charter of the City of Los Angeles: Annotated, 1990 ed., 7th Revision, Section 342.1. Los Angeles, CA: American Legal Publishing, 1997. Adopted January 25, 1925 with amendments to and including those approved in the primary and consolidated elections, April 8, 1997. This was codified in the 1999 version of the City Charter approved by LA voters.⁸Official City of Los Angeles Charter. Section 593. Cincinnati, OH: American Legal Publishing, 1999. Current through legislation effective March 31, 2025.

In FY 2025–2026, RAP’s operating budget totaled $359 million. RAP’s operating budget is funded by three sources: $298 million from property tax revenue allocation required by City Charter, $60 million from earned revenue (revenue generated by RAP-operated programs such as pool passes), and $285,000 from specified funds (Figure 104).

Major expenses for RAP were organized into four categories: City General Fund reimbursements, administration, maintenance, and programming (Figure 105). Since FY 2009, RAP has been required to reimburse its staff benefits, utilities, and trash costs back to the City General Fund. In FY 2026, RAP allocated $145 million—equivalent to 40% of its total operating budget—toward mandatory reimbursements, including employee benefits ($112 million), utility costs to the Department of Water and Power ($31 million, captured in “Maintenance” below), and refuse collection services through the Bureau of Sanitation ($3 million, captured in “Maintenance” below). As costs continue to rise, these required reimbursements place increasing strain on RAP’s financial resources, limiting its capacity to adequately maintain recreation and parks programming without proportional increases to operating revenue.

RAP is primarily a people-oriented department, with the majority of its budget allocated to personnel costs. Out of RAP’s FY 2025 budget (less General Fund reimbursements), $184 million (83%) was dedicated to salaries and the remaining $39 million (17%) was allocated to operating expenses.

Over time, RAP’s total budget has grown. RAP’s annual operating budget increased from $166 million in FY 2009 to $359 million in FY 2026 (see RAP’s Operating Budget Over Time figure above). However, most of the incremental increase is allocated to General Fund reimbursements rather than directly supporting park maintenance and services. Since the inception of these reimbursements in FY 2009, approximately $1.35 billion has been diverted from RAP’s core operations.⁹“Overview of the Adopted Fiscal Year 2024-2025 Department of Recreation and Parks Operating Budget,” City of Los Angeles
Department of Recreation and Parks.

RAP’s discretionary operating expenses—those directly tied to service delivery—include RAP Service Labor Expenses and RAP Service Non-Labor Expenses (shown in blue and purple in RAP’s Operating Budget Over Time figure above). The discretionary expense budget has increased by $50 million since FY 2009 to $213 million as of FY 2026, an increase of 30%. If adjusted for inflation, the FY 2009 discretionary operating budget would be equal to $252 million. However, when adjusted for inflation, RAP’s budget has effectively shrunk, creating a $40 million funding gap between the department’s FY 2026 operating budget and an inflation-adjusted FY 2009 budget (see RAP’s Operating Budget [without General Fund Reimbursement, Utilities, and Refuse] Over Time figure above). This limited growth further underscores the financial constraints limiting RAP’s ability to maintain and enhance the City’s recreation and parks facilities.

In addition to not keeping up with inflation, RAP’s budget has not kept pace with broader economic trends. Excluding General Fund reimbursements, RAP’s operating budget increased by only 35% between FY 2009 and FY 2023, falling behind the City’s total operating budget, which grew by 68% over the same period (see RAP’s Operating Budget Comparison figure above). Further, full-time staff positions declined by 18% between FY 2009 and FY 2023. For both RAP staff and park visitors, this disparity is significant, as other key economic indicators, such as median rent in Los Angeles, have risen at a faster rate during this time.

Compared to other City departments of comparable size, RAP’s operating budget has grown more slowly than most (see RAP’s Operating Budget Comparison figure above). Between FY 2009 and FY 2023, RAP’s operating budget, excluding General
Fund reimbursements, grew by 35%. Over the same period, other departments with annual operating budgets over $50 million grew by up to 131%, with the exception of General Services and Information Technology (these budgets shrank). The City’s only other semi-proprietary department, the Library, experienced a 131% increase to its operating budget once adjusting for General Fund reimbursements over a similar period of FY 2010 to FY 2023 (data for FY 2009 was insufficient).