OPT 01

City Auditor Laura Doud discusses the summary of Prop H funds and how they were spent. Photos by Brian Addison.

The passage of Long Beach Prop H, an oil production tax (OPT) measure created in 2007 to increase public safety funds, was lauded by City officials today as essential in maintaining the safety of the city.

Following an audit the City Auditor’s Office conducted in 2006, it was noticed that Long Beach’s OPT (which is paid not by consumers but by oil producers) had not been updated in nearly 17 years. With a rate significant lower than surrounding cities, Long Beach was losing out on millions in potential revenue—and in a time of severe cutbacks, particularly to the staffing numbers of the police and fire departments, the City needed all the money it could get.

OPT 02After presenting her findings, City Auditor Laura Doud, along with then-Mayor Bob Foster and the City Council, led the charge to create Prop H. The proposition was passed with an unprecedented 70.2% of the Long Beach vote in 2007.

Prop H essentially added 25 cents to the existing OPT while tacking on an additional annual adjustment—somewhere in the range of 1 to 2 cents per year, according to Doud—as well as requiring that the Auditor annually audit and report on the funds.

“I think it’s very appropriate that we are standing in front of the memorial that honors our police and firefighters who have lost their lives in service,” Doud said. “This is a good reminder of the funds we are talking about today since they are the funds that are being used to protect Long Beach.”

OPT 04According to Doud, from 2007 to 2013, over 82M barrels of oil were produced in Long Beach: 78% from THUMS, 16% from TOPKO, 2% from SHPI, and 4% from other sources. Ultimately, this amounted to $21.9M in Prop H funds being spent. Of that money spent, 87% of the it has been used to maintain police and fire presence, amounting to $19M for 12 additional police officers and 11 firefighters.

The remainder, just above $2.8M, was used for fire truck acquisition and retrofit, police motorcycles, safety equipment, and other “necessary supplies and materials.”

“Auditor Doud has had a lot of foresight on this issue: when you think about the impact of $22M over this time period dedicated to public safety, it is incredibly significant,” said Mayor Robert Garcia. “There is no question that the single most important job the government does is to protect the residents and our citizens.”

To read the full summary, see below.

Prop H Summary Report 8.26.14