The Long Beach City Council approved its fiscal year 2022 budget last night—a $3 billion plan that sets spending priorities for the City’s first year emerging from the pandemic.
Long Beach’s budget includes no deficits and replenishes reserves that were depleted during the COVID-19 health crisis—largely thanks to an infusion of over $250 million from state and federal recovery funds.
Though the extra funds have allowed the City to eliminate its furloughs and bring back services that were previously reduced, the funds are temporary. During the next fiscal year, the City will have to address a $36 million deficit.
“This budget is good for us today. But it might not be the budget that we’re gonna have to look at tomorrow. Tomorrow, we’re gonna have a heavy, difficult time, an imbalance in our budget, we’re gonna have a deficit that is going to be huge,” Councilmember Roberto Uranga said. “The challenges are yet to come.”
Of the departments that benefited from increased funding was the Long Beach Police Department, whose budget is set to increase by $16 million. The police department, among most others, faced budget cuts last year due to financial constraints caused by the pandemic.
The police’s budget, which takes up over 40% of the City’s general fund, was criticized by residents and advocates during the council meeting and previous budget hearings.
Many residents called for the adoption of the People’s Budget, an annual list of priorities created by a coalition of local advocacy groups, nonprofits and organizations. Their budget includes increased language access, a citywide rental housing division, right to counsel for renters and investment in community land trusts, among other demands.
In the Civic Chambers, residents held bright yellow signs donning the words “ADOPT THE PEOPLE’S BUDGET.” In a short chant led by Gaby Hernandez, executive director of the Long Beach Immigrant Rights Coalition, the chambers filled with voices that echoed “What do we want?” “The People’s Budget.” “When do we want it?” “Now!”
“I know that you will ignore us tonight, but Long Beach is listening to us. The vision of a world without policing, surveillance and prisons is spreading like never before,” resident Kenny Allen said. “You may attempt to delay the forces of change with your vote tonight. But to borrow from Victor Hugo, ‘No force on earth can stop an idea whose time has come.’ A time beyond police has come.”
At past council meetings, council members have pointed towards Long Beach’s rising crime rate as a justification for maintaining the police’s budget.
Among the votes at the Tuesday, Aug. 24 council meeting was the approval of Budget Oversight Committee recommendations that enhanced funding for youth, traffic speed abatement, fireworks mitigation and funds for a future COVID-19 memorial.
Here are some of the changes that were adopted into the budget:
Youth Fund now exceeds $1 million, climate change category cut by $100,000
The Long Beach Youth Fund saw a boost from around $920,000 to $1.04 million. During previous meetings, council members asked that the fund meet or exceed $1 million.
An additional $457,000 for community grants was added by defunding the Youth Ambassador Program and the field work program. Direct allocations from the State may restore these programs in the future, according to a staff report.
The Youth Fund is made up of dollars from Measure US, a per-barrel oil tax that was passed by voters last year. The funds from the tax are meant to be spent on youth, climate change and community health.
Though the recommendation increased youth funding, 67% of which will go to community organizations, funding geared towards climate change was cut by $100,000. The funding for the climate change category now stands at $123,209.
Council beefs up police funding for fireworks abatement and sworn officers in air support team
Police funding was increased by $200,000, half of which will support the fireworks enforcement team that was piloted in fiscal year 2021. The other half will go towards the conversion of two civilian officers to sworn officers in the police’s air support team.
Last year, budget cuts sliced helicopter staffing from six sworn personnel to two sworn personnel and two civilian positions. Helicopter staff support officers on the ground by radioing in information from a bird’s eye view.
If the City wants to maintain sworn officers in fiscal year 2023, it will have to identify structural funding for the positions. Currently, the officers are supported by one-time funds in the budget.
$200,000 to determine the future of Bixby Knolls
The council allocated $200,000 to determine the financial future of Bixby Knolls. The money will be used to locate a permanent revenue source for the Bixby Knolls Business Improvement Association to replace former Redevelopment Agency funding.
Slowing down drivers on residential streets
The council allocated $100,000, split equally between council districts, for speed mitigation efforts on residential streets. All changes must comply with current regulations and must be approved by the City’s traffic engineer.
COVID-19 memorial
In May, the council set in motion a process to create a COVID-19 memorial. There are no concrete plans for the memorial thus far. The fiscal year 2022 budget allocates $100,000 in one-time funding for the Public Works Department to create a vision plan for the memorial.
“I certainly am most interested in this as a device for healing, and sort of allowing people to cope with what we just went through,” Vice Mayor Rex Richardson said at the May 11 meeting. “Because there will be trauma for years to come based on what we just experienced.”
Plans for year-end surpluses
The council approved a list of projects to prioritize with any year-end surpluses at the end of fiscal year 2021.
They include, in no priority order:
- Martin Luther King Jr. statue restoration and park area improvements
- A North Long Beach pool feasibility study
- All-abilities playground design enhancements for Admiral Kidd Playground and other potential playground projects
- Duck pond gap funding as necessary
- Tree trimming enhancements
- Bluff Park historic lamps
- Bixby Bandshell and park improvements
- Gateway sign (405 and 22) implementation
- Public fireworks show on July 4
- Beach streets
Budget Manager Grace Yoon clarified that these items were not included as budget items due to the unpredictable nature of sales tax and other revenue sources. She said the City is optimistic about the potential for year-end surpluses, but that it was “too early to say” whether there would be enough to fund all the projects.
City Manager Tom Modica noted that some projects may be achievable, but that the City needed to create cost estimates for each proposed project. He also noted that the council could identify other urgent priorities before the fiscal year ends.
The next Long Beach City Council meeting will take place Tuesday, Sept. 7 at 5 p.m. in the Civic Chambers, 411 W Ocean Blvd, Long Beach, CA 90802.
