Mayor Tom Bradley of Los Angeles vowed last week to balance the city's budget by drastically reducing spending instead of increasing taxes.
The city is bracing for an estimated $100 million deficit in the current fiscal year and a projected $150 million deficit in fiscal 1993, which begins July 1. In an attempt to cut costs, officials have imposed a salary freeze on some city employees and a hiring freeze that left 2,000 jobs unfilled.
After a recent annual meeting with local business advisers, Mayor Bradley said the "last thing we want to do is raise taxes."
A spokesman for the mayor said the city's chief administrative officer is examining several cost-cutting plans. Zev Yaroslavsky, a city councilman, has proposed having city employees give up one or more paid holidays and accept salary reductions in fiscal 1993.
Real estate, retail, and banking experts who advise the mayor generally agree that the Los Angeles economic cycle is near its bottom and may slowly recover next year. But advisers from the University of California at Los Angeles Business Forecasting Project say the recession could last another year.
