Long Beach City Council is in the final stretch of finalizing the 2014 city budget, which it was announced this week includes a surprise addition of $4.1 million in cash thanks to property tax revenue from the disbanded Redevlopment Agency.
After 10 years of general-fund reductions, 2014 was already to be the first with an anticipated surplus, according to the proposed city budget, released August 1. The $3.5 million in additional funds listed in the budget draft came from careful budgeting over the last six years, a pension reform agreement last year with the International Association of Machinists (IAM) and the dissolution of the Long Beach Redevelopment Agency (RDA) in February of 2012.
The RDA’s responsibilities were assumed by the council, which is now set to inherit the additional $4.1 million that can be used for council-directed policy decisions. This amount is in addition to $3.3 million already set aside.
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The budget already re-allocates $30 million from redevelopment funds into the FY14 and allows for $57 million in one-time expenditures. City Council has already allocated $11.8 million of these funds towards parks, streets and sidewalks. For the remaining $45 million, city management is making plans of replacing outdated operating systems and restoring infrastructures neglected since the economic downturn, including parks and libraries.
Departments have continued to make their pleas at public budget meetings, however, no fiscal decisions have been made as of yet.
City Manager Patrick West and Mayor Bob Foster urged fiscal prudence and proposed in the budget draft that the surplus be carried over into future fiscal years as security against program and service cuts. If done, we would be guaranteed a balanced budget for the next three years.
City Council may approve the budget at the next meeting on September 3, but has until the September 10 meeting to make a final decision.
To read the full budget, visit www.longbeach.gov/finance/budget/documents
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