Long Beach City Manager Patrick West discusses the various aspects of the City’s Fiscal Year 2020 budget during a city council hearing on Aug. 6.
In its first meeting in the Bob Foster Council Chambers in the newly opened City Hall, the Long Beach City Council conducted a short regular meeting on Aug. 6 to receive three charter commission appointments and reappointments approved by the Personnel and Civil Service Committee.
The council then proceeded into a hearing to review and discuss an overview of the proposed Fiscal Year 2020 budget.
Second District Councilmember Jeannine Pearce was absent from the hearing, Mayor Robert Garcia said, because of a medical issue.
Garcia called the $2.8-billion budget “balanced and responsible,” and he added that the city’s pension liability is also in good shape.
“When this body was elected, our unfunded pension liability was about $1.8 billion, which is what we walked into,” Garcia said. “The unfunded liability today is at about $1 billion. So, it’s absolutely going in the right direction.”
He also said Long Beach continues to maintain a double-A rating from independent rating agencies.
The mayor then identified homelessness as the main challenge the city faces but added that the budget dedicates $30 million toward that issue.
He also said the budget continues to invest significantly in public safety, particularly because of Measure A, the 2016 ballot initiative that voters approved as a 10-year sales tax to fund public infrastructure and public-safety services. The measure, Garcia said, has allowed the city to preserve 121 public-safety personnel and restore 41 related positions, as well as help fund body-worn cameras for police officers and improve the police academy.
“And, of course, we continue the largest investment in infrastructure that we have done for many decades, and we have already repaved more than 232 lanes thanks to our investment program, as well as [improving] alleys and a variety of public facilities,” he said.
Garcia also explained that, as part of the budget, the City is teaming with Long Beach Transit to provide students in the Long Beach College Promise education program with free or reduced fares for transportation to work and school.
In describing new enhancements to neighborhoods, the mayor said the budget adds a four-person Clean Team with dedicated vehicles, as well as a Daisy Lane tree-replacement project, the second phase of the Bluff Park historic-lamp project and the planning and design of a fully accessible ADA-compliant playground in El Dorado Park West.
He also mentioned that the budget includes funding to further develop a plan to address HIV/AIDS in the city and an African-American culture center or museum.
City Manager Patrick West then led the hearing, indicating that “there is much to celebrate,” including the brand-new civic center, the new “world-class” library opening in September, a reduction in chronic homelessness and a new 3.5-acre park opening in downtown.
West also mentioned numerous innovative initiatives underway, including: the modernization of the City’s human-resources, finance and budget systems; mobility efficiencies, such as the electronic-scooter program, bike boulevards and pay-by-phone for parking; sustainability efforts such as the Climate Action Plan, the installation of solar panels and the implementation of electric-vehicle charging stations.
The city manager then explained that the City provides a wide array of services and includes 23 departments.
“There [are] 38 financial funds that represent the diverse city operations and their distinct funding sources within this budget that the council’s going to be approving this month,” West said, citing examples such as enterprise funds of about $1 billion, which cover the airport, harbor and water department, among others.
He also referred to other similar funds, such as the $85-million capital-projects fund, the $554-million general fund, the $35-million debt-service fund, the $503-million internal-services funds, the $12-million uplands oil fund, $257 million in special revenue funds and $207 million in tidelands funds.
However, one issue has arisen as the most important one to target with the new budget, he said.
“Addressing homelessness is front and center in this budget,” West said. “First, let’s celebrate that we have permanently housed over 5,000 people since 2013 through our Homeless Services Bureau and our Health and Human Services Department. That’s approximately 1,000 homeless people in Long Beach housed every single year for the past five or six years.”
He mentioned several grants the City has earned to address homelessness, and he emphasized that Long Beach only acquires such funding through its work and proven track record in dealing with the problem.
West also said the City is continuing with its 10-year economic blueprint, which includes a citywide market for an hourly labor program, researching the creation of opportunity zones and expanding the small-business-loan program.
In discussing some of the challenges the City faces, West cited: expenses growing faster than revenues, as with most cities; projected significant shortfalls over at least the next two years; a likely necessity to make reductions or changes to services the City offers; and many unfunded or underfunded needs remaining.
Officials said that, as part of the budget-approval process, there will be several more hearings in the coming weeks.
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The next Long Beach City Council meeting will be at 5pm on Tuesday, Aug. 13 in City Hall, 411 W. Ocean Blvd.
