After seven hearings and hours of amending, Long Beach city council unanimously passed next year’s budget—a document laying out how the City will spend over $3.2 billion in 2023.
The city’s budget includes a five-year $322 million dollar investment for infrastructure improvements, $77 million to combat homelessness, $48 million toward parks, roughly $50 million for library services and more.
Along with the proposed budget, measures were added Tuesday night to provide Long Beach library services with an additional $1.4 million, the City’s immigrant legal defense fund with an additional $300,000, as well as $500,000 toward the development of an all-abilities all-inclusive park and $160,000 toward a marine safety officer position.
Residents filled the council chambers and once again urged councilmembers to align the City budget more closely with the People’s Budget: a four-page document that states where residents feel Long Beach’s resources should go.
For the fifth year in a row, proponents of the document asked the council to decrease its police funding and to invest in renter’s rights, immigrant rights, communities of color, permanent affordable housing, resources for those who are unhoused and climate justice.
Over a dozen city employees made their pleas with the council to adjust for the cost of living in Long Beach, saying that they are “overworked and underpaid.”
A vast majority of residents taking the stand asked the City to allocate at least $1 million to the Justice Fund, a legal defense fund for immigrants residing in the city who are facing possible deportation.
The Justice Fund was founded in 2019 with a one-time grant from the city of $250,000 along with a $100,000 catalyst grant from Vera Institute of Justice. Council allocated another $300,000 to the Justice Fund for 2022-23 in December 2021.
Gaby Hernandez, executive director of Long Beach Immigrant Rights Coalition, echoed those before her in requesting more money for the Justice Fund.
“We all have a moral obligation to put a stop to as many deportations as we can,” Hernandez said. “You have the opportunity to lead the way and show other cities how to stand up for their immigrants. This is the kind of life changing support we need.”
The $1.1 million for the Justice Fund is the largest amount of money dedicated toward immigrant justice from Long Beach.
The People’s Budget also asks the City to spend $3 million to fund a Tenant’s Right to Counsel program. According to the Long Beach Business Journal, 60% of people living in Long Beach are renters.
Mayor Robert Garcia added a list of his own amendments to his final budget season, totaling to an additional $1.275 million. The bulk of Garcia’s allocations will be one-time funds from the leftover 2022 fiscal year’s budget, while $125,000 of the funds will be adopted into future budgets.
These allocations include additional annual funding from Measure B for the Cambodian Cultural Center and Latino Cultural Center, waiving parking citations for homeless individuals, funding for the Long Beach Heritage Museum, funding for an African American Cultural Center and more.
Garcia also finalized a prioritized list for the city to spend its additional funding on. The City has an estimated $900,000,000 in carryover funds from 2022. Garcia requested these funds go toward Language Access Programs, supporting the Fireworks Enforcement Team, providing libraries with more resources, funds for the Bluff Park Historic Lamps Project, $1 million toward repaving and street repairs and other items.
Councilmembers each took the floor to request last-minute funding for various departments and projects. Councilwoman Mary Zendejas asked for the Justice Fund to receive an additional one-time fund of $300,000 on top of the $800,000 already set aside.
Zendejas was one of many councilmembers who voiced their desire to raise the city’s library hours from its current 38 hours a week to 48 hours a week. She asked for the library to receive $1 million in structural funds to increase its hours and another $400,000 one-time allocation to invest in books and other materials.
City Manager Tim Modica said the City will have to “solve where the $1 million” is coming from.
Councilwoman Suzie Price asked for the funding to hire more park rangers in the city, but was denied. The City will instead budget for 12.5 park safety officer positions who will roam the 39 parks with no weapon, lock bathrooms each night and report any nuisance or safety issues.
Staff will report back to the council in six months on the feasibility and exact numbers of a park ranger program in Long Beach.
Budget Oversight Committee head Al Austin reminded his colleagues throughout the night that the City’s resources have a cap.
“This is not an endless bottomless pit of resources,” Austin said. “We may have to look at [changing] some of the staffing models in some departments, we may need to cut some programs that we’ve had for a while to fund our library system, or to fund our justice fund.”
