The budget Mayor Robert Garcia and City Manager Patrick West proposed Monday for Long Beach’s Fiscal Year 2017 continues to dedicate 69 percent of the general fund to public safety, as in FY 2016. The general fund is the only portion of the City’s $2.6-billion budget that is completely discretionary, and it accounts for only 17 percent ($430.5 million) of the Fiscal Year 2017 proposed budget.” captionposition=”right”] [aesop_character name=”Cory Bilicko” caption=”Managing Editor” align=”center”] Eight weeks after Long Beach voters approved Measures A and B to help address the city’s infrastructure needs and regenerate public-safety agencies through a sales-tax increase, officials were presenting a Fiscal Year 2017 budget that reflects those additional funds and focuses on an “improved future.”
On Aug. 1, Mayor Robert Garcia and City Manager Patrick West conducted a press conference at Fire Station 8 in Belmont Shore to share their proposed spending of the general fund— the only portion of the City’s $2.6-billion budget that is completely discretionary— for the coming fiscal year, which will begin Oct. 1. According to the officials, a previously expected shortfall for FY17 has been reduced by $1.1 million and the budget is “structurally balanced.”
“We’re going to spend the money for Measure A exactly where we said we would,” Garcia said during the event. “And I think that’s really, really important from a community point of view.”
The mayor stressed that the primary use of Measure A funds will be to restore “incredibly important” public-safety investments that had been cut during the recession, and the reason behind the choice of venue for the press conference soon became apparent.
“I love being able to live up to campaign promises and things that we said we were going to do,” Garcia said. “And the first one— and the reason why we’re here in this building today— is the first thing we’re going to do with this budget, as we said we would, is to restore Engine 8 here in Belmont Shore.”
That announcement garnered enthusiastic applause and cheers, about which Garcia joked that it was obvious some of the advocates for that cause were present.
He said that restoring Engine 8— which was positioned directly behind the podium from which he spoke— was important because it not only provides critical fire service to that part of the city, but it also improves fire responses across Long Beach by having another vehicle. He added that with the restoration of that engine comes a net gain of firefighters to staff it.
Garcia also remarked that Measure A funds have secured the restoration of the police department’s south division.
“During the recession, we reduced our police command divisions from four down to three, and that really caused a strain also on services and on assuring that we’re able to respond appropriately to what is going on in the city,” he said. “And when you ask the [police] chief what his top priority [was], from a public-safety point of view, it was the restoration of south division— and not just restoring the division, but restoring a net gain of police officers to allow us to rebuild the police department.”
[aesop_image imgwidth=”500px” img=”http://www.signaltribunenewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Screen-Shot-2016-08-04-at-3.35.23-PM.png” credit=”Cory Bilicko | Signal Tribune” align=”left” lightbox=”on” caption=”Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia presents the City’s proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2017 during a press conference Aug. 1 at Fire Station 8 in Belmont Shore.” captionposition=”left”] Garcia then turned his attention toward infrastructure, indicating that Measure A investments will not begin until the start of the new year.
“So, those dollars don’t begin coming in until Jan. 1,” he said. “So, we’re planning a lot of these investments without a full year of funds…but what you’re going to see is a significant investment in infrastructure this year.”
He said that the amount invested in infrastructure with the new budget is just as much as the previous year’s spending on it, but funds generated as a result of Measure A will be “on top of” that same amount.
“It was important for us— for Measure A— to add to our public infrastructure spending, not to just move around money and use the dollars in other ways,” Garcia said. “What’s great about Measure A is it adds to what we were spending last year.”
Delving more specifically into the proposed infrastructure spending, Garcia explained that the City would focus first on fixing streets that the public-works department has identified as needing repair, so money will be saved in the long run.
West then addressed those in attendance by first announcing some of the City’s recent accomplishments, including construction of a new city hall, new port headquarters, a new Lincoln Park and a new “world-class” library.
“During the recession, coupled with the demise of the redevelopment agency, our public buildings, community centers, senior centers and park spaces have been woefully underfunded,” West said. “This budget attempts to address those inefficiencies. Until we do, the City will continue to receive poor marks on our city auditor’s performance audit. So, this is really impressive and [it is] important that we continue to do this.”
West reviewed how Measure A will work. Beginning Jan. 1, there will be a 1-percent sales-tax increase, which, after six years, will reduce to a 0.5-percent increase but sunset after 10 years. It is expected to generate $35.6 million in FY17 and $47.7 million the following fiscal year. Per Measure B, one percent of those funds will go into a “rainy day” fund.
$27.2 million of Measure A funds in FY17 will address the city’s “aging” infrastructure and supplement a $49.2-million capital-improvement program, which will invest in: marinas, beaches and waterways; street rehabilitation; public facilities; parks and recreation; and transportation improvements.
As Garcia had mentioned, the measure’s funds will be used for re-establishing the south police division, restoring Engine 8 and maintaining police and fire services. Other funds will support the police recruit academy and two fire recruit academies, as well as covering police overtime to address violent crimes and additional fire department positions to meet State-mandated safety inspections. Consequently, public safety remains at 69 percent of the general fund departmental budget.
The proposed budget also supports recent city council priorities, including: $80,000 in ongoing support for continuing the Language Access Plan implementation; $100,000 in one-time funds for homeless services outreach; $176,385 in one-time funds for the Be SAFE violence-prevention collaborative; $203,000 in one-time funds for Sunday library hours; $100,000 in ongoing support to fund maintenance costs related to park enhancements; and $250,000 in one-time funds to complete the City’s match for the LA River study to revitalize the waterway for recreational use.
The budget also adds an ombudsman position to the Economic and Property Development Department to assist with a small-business loan program, business location assistance and data analysis.
Additionally, it adds positions in the permit center, plan check, engineering and inspections for the development services, fire and public works departments to enhance customer service and address the increased workload resulting from economic success.
Under “marketing and promotions,” there would be: $500,000 in one-time funds to organize two “Beach Streets” open-street events; $150,000 for ongoing support of the Long Beach Museum of Art; and $380,000 for ongoing support of the Convention and Visitors Bureau.
The budget also accounts for an expansion to two “Clean Teams” to perform beautification efforts and litter clean-up, as well as a study that is being conducted to address the “Refuse Fund” structural deficit.
The budget also provides investments in innovation and efficiencies, including the Bloomberg Innovation Grant i-team projects, a high-tech infrastructure master plan to maximize technology, FUSE Corps to address strategies for the homeless and Safe Long Beach, a Restructure Project Management Division in the public works department’s engineering bureau and expansion of the Development Services Department’s electronic plan submittal/plan check pilot program.
Although the budget strengthens some departments and programs, other departments are taking a cut, particularly non-public safety departments.
Per the city charter, the budget must be adopted by Sept. 15, but the process of approving the budget will now involve various community budget meetings and Budget Oversight Committee meetings, as well as weekly budget meetings that are scheduled throughout August. The first budget hearing and adoption date will be Sept. 6; the second will be Sept. 13.
Citizens may get involved in that process by attending the budget hearings, community budget meetings and oversight committee meetings. The 8th District community budget meeting is scheduled for Monday, Aug. 15 at 6:30pm at the Expo Building, 4321 Atlantic Ave.
Residents may also provide their input by taking the budget priority survey at longbeach.gov/budgetsurvey. The budget may be viewed at longbeachca.opengov.com.
