Al Austin, Long Beach’s 8th district councilmember, hosted a community budget meeting at the Expo Arts Center Wednesday night to mull over how the proposed Fiscal Year 2018 funds will be used in the city. Residents shared their input about the budget at the end of the presentation.
An overview of the proposed FY18 budget was the primary focus of 8th District Councilmember Al Austin’s community meeting at the Expo Arts Center on Aug. 23. Community members were present with questions and concerns about the way the funds were being allocated.
Several Long Beach officials, including department heads of Parks, Recreation & Marine, Financial Management, Long Beach Police Department (LBPD), Long Beach Fire Department (LBFD), Public Works and Health & Human Services, were present at the meeting.
The Long Beach City Council must finalize and adopt the FY18 budget, which is structurally balanced and totals $2.65 billion, by Sept. 15.
Although there will be a slight surplus for FY18, expenses are projected to outweigh revenues, which would lead to a cumulative shortfall of $19.1 million for FY19 and FY20.
Austin told the Signal Tribune after the meeting that one of the main priorities of FY18 for the city council is to mitigate the deficiency that is forecasted for the next three years.
“Part of being responsible is not only on focusing on the now, but looking toward the future,” he said.
The general fund of the proposed budget, which encompasses investments in public safety, public works, parks and recreation, library services and finances for elected and appointed officials, makes up $461 million of the total plan.
The breakdown of the $461 million is: 69 percent for public safety, including the police and fire departments and disaster preparations; 8 percent for the City’s Public Works Department; 7 percent for the Parks, Recreation & Marine Department; 7 percent for “other,” which would be miscellaneous investments; 5 percent for elected and appointed officials; and 3 percent for library services.
Lea Eriksen, the assistant finance director for the City of Long Beach, went into detail about the FY18 general-fund expenditures, specifically regarding investments of: $26.3 million to aging infrastructure; $1 million for the Neighborhood Streets Initiative; $4.3 million to support the LBPD police academy; and $750,000 in safety-camera network modernization and expansion. Some of the funds for the programs come from Measure A.
She also added that investments are being made to arts and culture programs, clean-team operations and focusing on economic development in the wake of future budget challenges.
According to a handout that was distributed at the meeting, 82 percent of the FY18 general-fund expenditures will be used to pay the salaries and benefits of employees who provide City services. Eighteen percent of that expenditure accounts for equipment, maintenance and utilities, among others.
The revenues for the general fund would primarily come from tax revenue, which would be approximately 59 percent of the income. Other resources come from general funds, which also includes Measure A, a 10-year sales tax that funds public infrastructure and public-safety services.
At the event, city officials were quick to praise Measure A, which has continued to fund services that were established in FY17, including police and fire programs and reparations to aging infrastructure.
He added that the proposed budget would assist in bolstering the police force and hiring more staff.
“We are cranking out police officers,” he said, adding that there are roughly 67 officers in the department who are in different phases in training.
Kelly Colopy, director of Health & Human Services, said a major investment of the funds is also being allocated to addressing homelessness. The handout reads that the City is spending $10 million to combat the issue through housing efforts and multi-services support.
“We were able to reduce the number of homeless people in our city,” Colopy said during the discussion. She said it may not feel as though there are fewer homeless people in the city, but that is mostly because the homeless population has spread out, as opposed to living in groups.
Budget revenues will also be used to fund park areas and programs and various city repairs, such as roads, illegally dropped items and graffiti.
Craig Beck, director of the Public Works Department, said the City is eliminating a little over 1 million square feet of graffiti. He said many of the residential concerns are gathered through the use of the Go Long Beach app, which better allows the City to prioritize its focus for maintenance in the community.
Some residents expressed concern about poorly maintained streets that have many potholes and are densely populated.
Beck said parking enforcement is addressed through the Pavement Condition Index (PCI), which analyzes the condition of a road. Beck said the City is doing the best it can to prioritize and efficiently address each road at a feasible rate.
He said 1,500 potholes were removed and 300 street trees were trimmed in the past year. He added that the City is making better efforts to pick up illegally dumped items, such as mattresses.
Austin closed out the event by thanking the community for its participation. He told the Signal Tribune after the meeting that he attributed the decent-to-low turnout at the event to the public’s lack of concern for the way the FY18 budget is structured.
City Manager Patrick West, who gave brief remarks during the meeting, said he was proud of the way Long Beach is allocating its resources in an efficient manner.
“Long Beach is on a roll,” West told the crowd. “What is happening right now is fantastic. We’re seeing an unprecedented level of investment in our city and the community.”
Any inquiries or concerns about the FY18 budget, specifically its impact in the 8th council district, can contact Austin’s office at (562) 570-6685 or district8@longbeach.gov.
