Signal Tribune Newspaper

By Nick Diamantides
Staff Writer

Things are probably going to get worse before they get better. That’s what Long Beach city officials told about 30 residents who gathered at the North Division Headquarters of the Long Beach Police Department (LBPD) Monday night.
The community meeting was organized by 8th District Councilwoman Rae Gabelich and her staff in order to explain the city’s budget crisis to people who are wondering how the projected $38-million revenue shortfall is going to affect city services.
Early in the approximately two-hour meeting, staff distributed a 24-page booklet entitled Proposed Fiscal Year 2010 Budget for Community Review. City Manager Pat West told the audience that the booklet was the condensed version of the city’s 600-page budget document. He explained that the booklet is designed to help residents understand why the city must find more efficient ways of doing things and cut back some services. “All the departments in the city are in this as well as all the elective offices,” he said. “This is a very difficult budget.”
West noted that in FY 2010, the city will even have to reduce public safety expenditures with a 4.5-percent ($8.2 million) reduction in the LBPD’s budget and a 4.4-percent ($3.2 million) reduction in the fire department’s budget.
Other budget cutbacks include a five-percent ($1.5 million) reduction in public works; an eight-percent ($2.04 million) reduction in Parks, Recreation and Marine; a six-percent ($982, 650) cut in library services; a six-percent ($1.6 million) reduction in elected and appointed offices; and a seven-percent (4.18 million) decrease in all other city departments.
West indicated that the state’s budget crisis is significantly impacting local governments in two ways: fewer state funds are flowing into local government coffers, and the state is borrowing money from funds that had been set aside for use by local governments. He remarked that city officials are glad that after intense lobbying efforts, the state legislature recently backed off from an earlier decision to borrow the portion of the gasoline tax designated for use by cities and counties. He explained that revenues from that tax are used for street repairs and, if the state borrows those funds, the deterioration of Long Beach’s roads would accelerate.
Lori Ann Farrell, director of Financial Management, spent about 45 minutes explaining some of the specifics of the city’s proposed FY 2010 budget. “As you know, the City of Long Beach, like many of us, is going through a very serious financial hardship with what’s happening with the recession and all the declines in all the city’s revenue streams,” she said. “The state is suffering from the same issues. Many cities throughout California are struggling right now.”
Farrell noted that the city’s property tax, sales tax and hotel tax revenues have been steadily decreasing for more than a year. “In the current year, we had a $19-million deficit that we had to correct,” she said. “For Fiscal Year 2010 we are predicting a $38-million deficit.”
She pointed out that the city has reduced its expenditures and number of employees every year for the last six years, but the 2010 cutbacks will be deeper than any other single year during that period. She stressed that the city’s administrative staff has spent countless hours putting the proposed budget together to minimize the effects of the cutbacks while ensuring that the city remains fiscally responsible.
Farrell also explained that while the city has a total of approximately $2.5 billion in all of its funds, the General Fund for FY 2010 is projected at only $378.6 million. Only General Fund money can be spent on police, fire and other city services. By law, money from the other funds may only be spent on specific purposes such as port operations, redevelopment and other designated uses.
“We are projecting deficits for the next three fiscal years,” Farrell warned. “This budget is the first bold step in getting us back to financial solvency and fiscal sustainability in the long term.”
According to the booklet, in the last six years, the city eliminated 527 positions from its employee rolls, but for FY 2010, approximately 312 more positions will have to be eliminated, including reducing the number of sworn police officers and civilian LBPD employees. Farrell said the LBPD, like all other city departments is forced to find more efficient ways of doing things.
She added that in FY 2010, Long Beach residents could expect longer wait times for many city services. “There will be impacts,” she said. “There is no way that with a $38-million deficit we could reduce this budget without it having an impact.”
Deputy Police Chief Bill Blair stressed that responding to emergencies will remain the LBPD’s top priority. “We have evaluated all of the core services throughout the department,” he said, explaining that the department has found things that can be eliminated from its operations without impairing the public’s safety. He added that cost-saving measures such as having civilian employees carry out some of the office duties of detectives will reduce expenditures without impairing operations.
“We have had phenomenal crime reduction in the last several years,” Blair said. “It is our hope that because of the way we have structured our core services we will continue to realize the same reductions in crime.”
After a brief question-and-answer period, Gabelich spoke to the audience, acknowledging that the budget cuts would be painful. “It’s a grim picture, but it’s all about teamwork and trying to find where those efficiencies are,” she said. “We have to look at different parts of our city that have different needs. I just want to be sure that we are not going to be backtracking on some of the positive moves we have made”
To get a copy of the budget booklet, phone (562) 570-6425 or visit www.longbeach.gov.