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All ordinances finally adopted under the provisions of the Charter shall be published in the English language at least once in some daily newspaper circulated in the City of Los Angeles, or publicized by some other method authorized by ordinance. No ordinance shall be valid or take effect until that publication or satisfaction of other method authorized by ordinance. As used in the Charter, publication of an ordinance shall mean compliance with this section.
Orders and resolutions shall take effect upon their passage unless requiring Mayoral approval, in which case they shall take effect upon Mayoral approval or override of Mayoral veto. An ordinance shall go into effect 31 days from its publication, except for urgency ordinances adopted pursuant to Section 253, and except for the following ordinances, which shall take effect upon their publication:
(a) an ordinance ordering, or otherwise relating to an election;
(b) an ordinance ordering or otherwise relating to the levying or collection of the annual City taxes;
(c) an ordinance which provides for or changes any of the following with respect to streets, boulevards, alleys, courts or other public places: name, curb lines, grade, improvement, opening, widening, straightening or extension;
(d) an ordinance relating to the construction of sewers or storm drains;
(e) an ordinance relating to the bringing or conduct of suits or actions or the levying or collection of local assessments upon private property for any of the purposes referenced in subsections (c) and (d);
(f) an ordinance relating to the condemnation of lands for parks, boulevards or playgrounds under laws or ordinances providing for the payment of the expense thereof by local assessment upon private property;
(h) an ordinance establishing pension or retirement benefits in accordance with Article XI of the Charter;
(i) an ordinance making or authorizing any contract, other than an ordinance granting any franchise, right or privilege; and
(j) any ordinance making or authorizing the sale or issuance of bonds of the City or of any district within the City.
SECTION HISTORY
Amended by: Subsec. (h) deleted and Subsecs. (i), (j), and (k) renumbered, Charter Amendment DD, approved November 5, 2024, effective January 8, 2025.
The Council may adopt an urgency ordinance that shall take effect upon its publication. An urgency ordinance may only be adopted if required for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health or safety. Any urgency ordinance shall contain a specific statement showing its urgency, and must be passed by a three-fourths vote of the Council. No grant of any franchise, right or privilege shall ever be construed to be an urgency measure.
The Council, by resolution, may establish the official position of the City with respect to legislation proposed to or pending before the state or federal government. The resolution shall be subject to veto by the Mayor, and override of the Mayor’s veto by a two-thirds vote of the Council. The Council, by ordinance, shall adopt procedures to implement the provisions of this section, which procedures shall set the time periods for Council and Mayoral action.
The Controller shall be the auditor and general accountant of the City and shall exercise a general supervision over the accounts of all offices, departments, boards and employees of the City charged in any manner with the receipt, collection or disbursement of the money of the City. The Controller shall be elected as provided in Section 202.
The Controller shall:
(a) appoint assistants, deputies, clerks and other persons as the Council shall prescribe by ordinance;
(b) prescribe the method of keeping all accounts of the offices, departments, boards or employees of the City in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, except that any change of the system of accounting shall first be authorized by the Council;
(c) regularly review the accounting practices of offices and departments and upon finding serious failings in accounting practices, be empowered to take charge of the accounting function, and thereafter assist the office or department in implementing appropriate accounting standards and practices;
(d) maintain a complete set of accounts which shall be deemed the official books and accounts of the City, which shall show at all times the financial condition of the City, the state of each fund, including funds of departments responsible for managing their own funds, the source from which all money was derived and for what purposes all money has been expended;
(e) in compliance with generally accepted government auditing standards, audit all departments and offices of the City, including proprietary departments, where any City funds are either received or expended; be entitled to obtain access to all records and personnel, including from City contractors and subcontractors that are either expending or receiving City funds, in order to carry out this function; establish an auditing cycle to ensure that the performance, programs and activities of every department are audited on a regular basis, and promptly provide completed audit reports to the Mayor, Council, and City Attorney and make those reports available to the public;
(f) maintain a reconciliation between the accounts in all offices and departments with the accounts in the Controller’s office, and from time to time, verify the condition of all City funds in the City Treasury, and report to the Mayor and Council thereon;
(g) allocate among the several respective funds all public money at any time in the City Treasury not otherwise specifically allocated and appropriated by law or ordinance, and promptly notify the Treasurer of the allocation or appropriation;
(h) report to the Mayor and Council, at times established by law, the condition of each fund, and make other reports as the Mayor or Council requests;
(i) maintain each fund on a parity with its obligations at all times by transferring from the Reserve Fund as a loan to any fund which may become depleted through tardy receipt of revenues, and upon receipt of revenues sufficient to make an allocation as will restore each fund to parity, retransfer the amount of the loan to the Reserve Fund;
(j) monitor the level of debt incurred by the City and report periodically to the Mayor and Council on City debt; and
(k) conduct performance audits of all departments and may conduct performance audits of City programs, including suggesting plans for the improvement and management of the revenues and expenditures of the City. Nothing in this subsection shall preclude the Mayor or Council from conducting management studies or other review of departmental operations.
SECTION HISTORY
Amended by: Subsec. (e), Charter Amendment HH, approved November 5, 2024, effective January 8, 2025.
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