LOS ANGELES Mayor Karen Bass has proposed laying off more than 1,600 local government workers in an attempt to close a nearly $1 billion (£747 million) budget gap.

Addressing the city council on Monday, Ms Bass called the municipal workforce the “city’s greatest asset” but said cuts were needed as City Hall wrestles with uncertainty in Washington, higher wage costs, a slowing economy and the rebuilding of the affluent Pacific Palisades district, which was destroyed by a January wildfire.

“We have a very difficult budget to balance,” said Ms Bass, a Democrat who will stand for re-election next year. She called her job cuts proposal a “last resort.”

David Green, president of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) local 721, said the union would seek new funding sources and other alternatives to slashing jobs.

“We’re not going to allow the out-of-touch bureaucrats … to balance the budget on the backs of city workers,” Mr Green said in a statement.

Late last month, Ms Bass and the city council appealed to California’s state government for nearly $2bn (£1.49bn) in disaster recovery aid. This week, she plans to seek additional state funds that could reduce the proposed layoffs.