The Los Angeles Police Department wants the city to spend $30 million on 300 new patrol vehicles for the 2028 Olympics, and the City Council is pushing back.

Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky, who chairs the Budget and Finance Committee, challenged the request at a committee meeting in August.

"I'm incredibly uncomfortable with spending $30 million on cars, and the excuse being used that we need them for the Games, when the Games are going to be a month long," Yaroslavsky told LAPD officials, as LAist reported.

The committee did not approve the purchase. It asked the city administrative officer to report back on the financial impact, payment options and whether LAPD could borrow vehicles from other state law enforcement agencies.

LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell wrote in a July letter to the committee that he does not expect federal funds to cover the vehicles. The department anticipates that money going toward deploying thousands of officers during the Games.

The vehicle fight is one piece of a larger standoff over Olympic security costs. The 2028 Games are supposed to be privately funded and cost-free for taxpayers, but LA28, the private organizing committee, has not included police expenses in its $7 billion-plus budget. According to an LAPD estimate sent to the council in May, the department's personnel costs alone could top $730 million.

Los Angeles is already liable for the first $270 million in potential Games-related losses under its agreement with LA28, Westside Current reported. The Trump administration allocated $1 billion for Olympic security, but that money will be split among all cities hosting venues. How much Los Angeles receives remains unclear.

LA City Controller Kenneth Mejia has sounded alarms on the broader cost picture. In a May post on X, Mejia said the city's proposed 2026-27 budget would commit at least $88 million in taxpayer money to Olympic preparations, plus $17 million in future interest, with only $3.5 million listed as reimbursed by LA28. On Aug. 11, he called on the council to ensure all excess city services for the Games are reimbursed.

@lacontroller: "The people of LA were promised a 'Zero-Cost' Games. That means ALL EXCESS CITY SERVICES provided to the Olympics should be REIMBURSED, and no $ should go to a 'Legacy Entity' until the City is made whole. Now it's Council's responsibility to protect our City & YOUR TAX DOLLARS."

The city has already approved $13 million in its 2026-27 budget for 107 non-patrol Olympic vehicles, including trucks, prisoner transport vans and unmarked investigative vehicles. LAPD says all vehicles acquired for the Games will replace aging ones after the Olympics end, not permanently expand the fleet.

No deadline has been set for the city administrative officer's report or the committee's next vote on the patrol vehicle request.