by FOXSports.com

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That's the dilemma facing Los Angeles City Hall officials, who could be laying off municipal workers or forcing them to take unpaid leave in order to save money for the city as part of a budget crunch.

So what happens to a victory parade if the Lakers win the NBA finals?

"We can't afford to cover the costs," Los Angeles City Councilwoman Jan Perry told the Los Angeles Times on Friday. "How could we make a decision about people's jobs and then sponsor the parade?"

In fact, Perry wondered if the Lakers or NBA should be responsible for the estimated $1 million cost of a team celebration. The last Lakers parade, in 2002, cost the city $1.1 million, including police, traffic officers and cleanup.

And Perry isn't the only one questioning the cost of a parade. Barbara Maynard, spokeswoman for the Coalition of L.A. City Unions, also thinks spending money on a party isn't appropriate in this tough economic climate.

"City employees have been asked by their employers to take a massive pay cut," she told the Times. "And we do not believe it is appropriate in this economic climate for taxpayers to be funding a parade."

But Councilman Bernard C. Parks, who heads the city's Budget and Finance Committee, predicts the city would absorb the cost of a parade in the end.

"There's going to be a major celebration in the city, and the likelihood is the city is going to absorb the bulk of those costs," Parks told the Times. "The city isn't going to have time over the next few hours to negotiate a contract with the Lakers or anyone else."