### Check for existing issues

- [x] I have searched the existing issues and checked that my issue is not a duplicate.

### What happened?

## What happened?

We deployed **LiteLLM Proxy v1.82.3** on a **new machine** and found that **budget enforcement does not work** for both:

- **key max_budget** - **user max_budget**

This is **not an upgrade issue on the same machine**. The issue was observed on a **fresh deployment on a new server**.

For comparison:

- **v1.81.0** in another environment works correctly: requests are blocked after budget is exceeded - **v1.82.3** on the new machine does **not** block requests after budget is exceeded

The configuration is the same between the two environments.

So the issue appears to be:

- budget values are stored correctly - spend is tracked correctly - **enforcement/blocking is bypassed**

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## Relevant LiteLLM version

**v1.82.3**

## Comparison version

**v1.81.0**

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## Python version

Please replace with actual runtime version, for example:

```bash Python 3.11.x

Steps to reproduce Deploy LiteLLM Proxy v1.82.3 on a new machine Use the same config as the environment running v1.81.0 Create a key with a low max_budget, for exam…