What you approve before a load · sample

Synthetic update vs. published LA City appropriations

Dataset: City of Los Angeles — Open Budget: Appropriations
Baseline: lacity-appropriations-fy2018-2023.csv · 30,316 rows · FY2018–FY2023SHA-256 57c4251de145f155ebd181a81b897e5528c66fa93dbbe81cf8f3da32e577a096
Incoming: synthetic-update.csv · 30,328 rows · FY2018–FY2024SHA-256 db1c950c14df3c8e9be6ab7758712eb379aa3869785fbbf70cc0ca3767e33871
Matched on: Fiscal_Year + Dept_Code + SubDept_Code + Prog_Code + Source_Fund_Code + Account_Code
Amounts: Nominal US dollars. Blank is not zero and is never summed.

Summary

0 hard failures. That is not approval. Nothing here has been reviewed or published.

Baseline rows: 30,316
Incoming rows: 30,328
Changed: 6
Removed: 3
Added: 15
Unchanged: 30,307

Needs a decision

Police · Field Forces · Salaries Sworn, FY2022$757,614,492 → blank. Blank is not zero.
3 records removedFY2021. See them
FY2024 is new15 rows, 5 blank. Partial year. See them
5 other amount changes2 blanks filled, 3 values changed. See them

Reconciliation

Records
Outcome	Baseline	Incoming
Unchanged	30,307	30,307
Changed	6	6
Removed	3	not applicable
Added	not applicable	15
Rows	30,316	30,328

Blank amounts
Source	Baseline	Incoming
Blank in both	3,173	3,173
Filled in	2	not applicable
Removed	0	not applicable
Newly blank	not applicable	1
In added rows	not applicable	5
Blank rows	3,175	3,179

Balanced. Each record is counted once.

Amounts by fiscal year

Sum of known amounts, nominal dollars. Blanks are counted beside each sum.
Fiscal year	Rows	Blank	Baseline	Incoming	Change
FY2018	4,748 → 4,748	0 → 0	$9,292,134,656	$9,292,134,656	none
FY2019	4,932 → 4,932	0 → 0	$9,899,768,481	$9,899,768,481	none
FY2020	4,436 → 4,436	0 → 0	$10,710,077,843	$10,710,077,843	none
FY2021	4,388 → 4,385	0 → 0	$10,531,278,041	$10,515,039,243	−$16,238,798
FY2022	4,219 → 4,219	0 → 1	$11,480,288,113	$10,722,673,621	−$757,614,492
FY2023	7,593 → 7,593	3,175 → 3,173	$11,755,048,415	$11,796,447,801	+$41,399,386
FY2024	0 → 15	0 → 5	not in baseline	$4,207,241	+$4,207,241
Sum across fiscal yearsbaseline FY2018–FY2023; incoming FY2018–FY2024	30,316 → 30,328	3,175 → 3,179	$63,668,595,549	$62,940,348,886	−$728,246,663

The bottom row adds years together, and the files cover different years. It is not an annual budget.
FY2022's −$757,614,492 is entirely the amount that became blank. That lowers the sum; it is not a proven cut.

Changed records

Changed (6)

Record	FY	Change	Baseline	Incoming
Police · Field Forces · Salaries Sworn2022\|70\|70LVL5\|7001\|100\|1012	FY2022	Became blank	$757,614,492	blank
Animal Services · General Administration and Support · Overtime General2023\|6\|06LVL5\|650\|100\|1090	FY2023	Blank filled	blank	$125,000
City Attorney · Municipal Law · Salaries General2023\|12\|12LVL5\|1203\|56T\|1010	FY2023	Blank filled	blank	$48,000
Police · Field Forces · Salaries Sworn2023\|70\|70LVL5\|7001\|100\|1012	FY2023	Amount changed	$738,683,565	$753,457,236
Tax and Revenue Anticipation Notes · Tax and Revenue Anticipation Notes Debt Service Fund · Debt Service - Pensions2023\|TRANLVL4\|TRAN\|6251\|100\|620P15P	FY2023	Amount changed	$674,614,798	$688,107,094
Tax and Revenue Anticipation Notes · Tax and Revenue Anticipation Notes Debt Service Fund · Debt Service - Retirement2023\|TRANLVL4\|TRAN\|6251\|100\|620P15R	FY2023	Amount changed	$648,020,950	$660,981,369

Removed (3)

Record	FY	Baseline
Animal Services · Shelter Operations and Animal Care · Salaries General2021\|6\|06LVL5\|602\|100\|1010	FY2021	$8,592,247
Animal Services · Animal Control and Law Enforcement · Salaries General2021\|6\|06LVL5\|601\|100\|1010	FY2021	$5,088,417
Animal Services · Animal Medical Services · Salaries General2021\|6\|06LVL5\|607\|100\|1010	FY2021	$2,558,134

Added (15)

Record	FY	Incoming
Emergency Management · Emergency Management · Salaries General2024\|35\|35LVL5\|3501\|100\|1010	FY2024	$3,748,231
Emergency Management · Emergency Management · Salaries, As-Needed2024\|35\|35LVL5\|3501\|100\|1070	FY2024	$157,698
Emergency Management · Emergency Management · Overtime General2024\|35\|35LVL5\|3501\|100\|1090	FY2024	$100,000
Emergency Management · Emergency Management · Printing and Binding2024\|35\|35LVL5\|3501\|100\|2120	FY2024	$12,950
Emergency Management · Emergency Management · Travel2024\|35\|35LVL5\|3501\|100\|2130	FY2024	$7,805
Emergency Management · Emergency Management · Contractual Services2024\|35\|35LVL5\|3501\|100\|3040	FY2024	$6,018
Emergency Management · Emergency Management · Office and Administrative2024\|35\|35LVL5\|3501\|100\|6010	FY2024	$65,341
Emergency Management · Emergency Management · Operating Supplies2024\|35\|35LVL5\|3501\|100\|6020	FY2024	$0
Emergency Management · Emergency Management · Salaries General2024\|35\|35LVL5\|3501\|508\|1010	FY2024	$54,599
Emergency Management · Emergency Management · Salaries General2024\|35\|35LVL5\|3501\|760\|1010	FY2024	$54,599
Emergency Management · Emergency Management - Default Program · Salaries General2024\|35\|35LVL5\|3599\|100\|1010	FY2024	blank
Emergency Management · Emergency Management - Default Program · Salaries, As-Needed2024\|35\|35LVL5\|3599\|100\|1070	FY2024	blank
Emergency Management · Emergency Management - Default Program · Overtime General2024\|35\|35LVL5\|3599\|100\|1090	FY2024	blank
Emergency Management · Emergency Management - Default Program · Travel2024\|35\|35LVL5\|3599\|100\|2130	FY2024	blank
Emergency Management · Emergency Management - Default Program · Office and Administrative2024\|35\|35LVL5\|3599\|100\|6010	FY2024	blank

Rows with the same name differ in a key column, usually the fund code.

Warnings

Hard failure: Blocks loading. This file has 0.
Review warning: Does not block, but the tool will not publish until someone accepts the warnings.

Review warnings
Warning	Count	Of	Detail
Measure is blank in the source (kept as 'not provided', excluded from totals)MEASURE_MISSING	3,179	incoming rows	3,173 already blank, 1 newly blank, 5 in added records. Examples row 18503 · key 2022\|70\|70LVL5\|7001\|100\|1012 row 22727 · key 2023\|28\|28LVL5\|2899\|100\|2120 row 22728 · key 2023\|28\|28LVL5\|2899\|100\|2130 row 22729 · key 2023\|28\|28LVL5\|2899\|100\|3040 row 22730 · key 2023\|28\|28LVL5\|2899\|100\|3310 row 22731 · key 2023\|28\|28LVL5\|2899\|100\|6010 row 22733 · key 2023\|30\|30LVL5\|3001\|100\|1070 row 22734 · key 2023\|30\|30LVL5\|3001\|100\|1090 row 22735 · key 2023\|30\|30LVL5\|3001\|100\|2120 row 22736 · key 2023\|30\|30LVL5\|3001\|100\|3040
Measure is negativeMEASURE_NEGATIVE	2	incoming rows	Kept as published. Examples row 22720 · key 2022\|82\|82LVL5\|8201\|100\|1010 · value “-108753” row 22721 · key 2022\|86\|86LVL5\|8606\|100\|3030 · value “-2647530”
Records present in the published version are absent from this fileRECORDS_REMOVED	3	baseline records	In the baseline, missing from the incoming file. Examples key 2021\|6\|06LVL5\|602\|100\|1010 · Animal Services · Shelter Operations and Animal Care · Salaries General key 2021\|6\|06LVL5\|601\|100\|1010 · Animal Services · Animal Control and Law Enforcement · Salaries General key 2021\|6\|06LVL5\|607\|100\|1010 · Animal Services · Animal Medical Services · Salaries General
A group value appears that the published version does not haveGROUP_ADDED	1	fiscal years	FY2024, 15 rows. Examples value “2024” · 15 rows
A group's measure total changed by more than the review thresholdGROUP_TOTAL_SHIFT	1	fiscal years	Over the 5% threshold: FY2022 -6.6%. Examples value “2022” · -6.6% change in total

The counts overlap and use different units, so they are not added together. All in exceptions.csv.

Verification status

Only automated validation has been done for this sample.
Check	Kind	Status
File, schema and keys valid	Automated	Done
Every record counted once	Automated	Done
Changes reviewed and accepted	Human review	Not done
Dashboard shows the agreed figures	Delivery	Not verified At delivery, in your environment
Rollback to the previous version	Delivery	Not verified At delivery, where in scope
Approval to publish	You	Not given

Provenance and downloads

Baseline, from the City

Rows with Fiscal_Year 2018 through 2023 from the City's published file, values unchanged. Retrieved from data.lacity.org on 2026-11-07; the portal reports the rows were last updated 2024-06-20.

Kept rows with Fiscal_Year 2018–2023; other years excluded because their identifying codes are not unique (see data/PROVENANCE.md).
Re-serialized as RFC 4180 CSV; cell values are byte-identical to the download.

Source · Creative Commons 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0, Public Domain Dedication)

Incoming, synthetic

A labeled modification of the real FY2018–FY2023 snapshot, made to demonstrate the update workflow. Some amounts below are invented by this project. The City did not publish these changes.

SYNTHETIC: the three largest FY2023 amounts raised by 2%.
SYNTHETIC: the first two FY2023 rows with a blank amount given amounts of 125000 and 48000.
SYNTHETIC: the first FY2022 row with an amount has that amount blanked.
SYNTHETIC: the first three FY2021 Animal Services rows removed.
Appended the City's 15 real FY2024 Emergency Management rows (values unchanged). FY2024 is therefore partial in this file.

Downloads

changes.csv 24 rows: every changed field, removed and added record
exceptions.csv 3,186 rows: every warning occurrence

Limitations

Validation checks that this file is internally consistent and was loaded completely and exactly. It does not certify that the City's original figures are correct, complete, or final.
Totals exclude rows whose measure is blank in the source. Those rows are counted and listed separately; they are not treated as zero.
The City does not publish per-column definitions for this dataset. Field descriptions in this project are interpretations of column names and the dataset description.
The meaning of Fiscal_Year (for example, whether 2023 means the year ending June 2023) is not stated by the source and is shown as published.
Amounts are nominal US dollars as published, not adjusted for inflation.
This sample was not reviewed by a person or loaded into a dashboard.

Method and every check this tool runs

Both files must match the agreed 14-column schema exactly.
Every column is compared as published text, so any field change is reported.
Amounts are summed exactly in cents.

Hard failures

File exceeds the size limit FILE_TOO_LARGE
File is empty or has no data rows FILE_EMPTY
File is not valid UTF-8 text NOT_UTF8
File contains NUL bytes (binary content) BINARY_CONTENT
CSV structure could not be parsed (quoting or column count) CSV_MALFORMED
Row count exceeds the limit TOO_MANY_ROWS
Required column is missing from the header MISSING_COLUMN
Header contains a column not in the agreed schema UNEXPECTED_COLUMN
Header repeats a column name DUPLICATE_COLUMN
Required field is blank REQUIRED_BLANK
Numeric field is not a plain number (digits, optional minus and decimals; the measure allows at most 2 decimals) INVALID_NUMBER
Field exceeds the length limit FIELD_TOO_LONG
Two or more rows share the same stable key DUPLICATE_KEY

Review warnings

Measure is blank in the source (kept as 'not provided', excluded from totals) MEASURE_MISSING
Measure is negative MEASURE_NEGATIVE
Value has leading or trailing spaces (kept as published) SURROUNDING_WHITESPACE
Text begins with = + - or @ (spreadsheet-formula risk; escaped in CSV export) FORMULA_LIKE_TEXT
A total does not equal the sum of its parts SUM_MISMATCH
Records present in the published version are absent from this file RECORDS_REMOVED
A group value appears that the published version does not have GROUP_ADDED
A group value in the published version is absent from this file GROUP_REMOVED
A group's measure total changed by more than the review threshold GROUP_TOTAL_SHIFT