Mayor Extends Online Budget 'Challenge'

Los Angeles has extended the deadline for playing along with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's Los Angeles Budget Challenge through Friday.

The online role-playing scenario lets citizens attempt to balance the budget within an interactive "universe" that gives immediate feedback showing the effects of various fiscal shifts and cuts.

Check out these facts before you play the game, and, as always, don't try this at home.

• The city’s current operating budget for fiscal 2010-11 is $6.75 billion, according to figures available on the mayor’s official website. The city collects revenues from more than 20 different sources—nearly 65 percent of them from the General Fund, which includes property taxes (32 percent), business and sales taxes (16 percent), utility users’ taxes (15 percent) and taxes from licenses, permits, fees and fines (18 percent).

• Out of every dollar in the city’s coffers, 44.3 cents are spent on community safety, including crime and fire control, and public assistance; 26.2 cents are spent on community maintenance, including sewage issues, planning and building enforcement, streets and parkways, and blight identification and elimination; 14.3 cents are spent on street and highwaytransportation, including traffic control; 6.7 cents are spent on cultural, educational and recreational services; 5.5 cents are spent on general administration and support, including administrative, legal and personnel services; 3 cents are spent on human resources, economic assistance and development.

• The city employs some 34,000 people, including 13,964 sworn positions, and salaries for this work force make up about 85 percent of the budgets of various city departments.