The City of Long Beach presented its first 2015 budget recommendations for three departments—the Parks, Recreation and Marine, Library Services, and Code Enforcement departments—and emphasized that increasing productivity via technology was their main goal.

The proposed budget allows for $54M to the Parks, Recreation and Marine Department, $12.8M to Library Services, and $6.3M to Code Enforcement.

Approximately $2 million of the budget is to be spent on replacing the outdated irrigation system at Heartwell Park, which, according to Director of Parks, Recreation and Marine George Chajian, currently involves employees manually moving the sprinklers from location to location within the park and takes up to a week to water.

The new system is expected to save up to 3.9M gallons of water per year, increase employee productivity and allow for more flexible irrigation hours.

“We can reduce cost, improve service and better connect with the community we serve,” Chapjian said.

A budgeted $1.369M is to go to a synthetic field to be installed at Admiral Kidd Park, $450K to the Parks’ water bill (an increase over their current budget), and $287K for ongoing maintenance and operating costs of new medians, parkways and parks.

Library Services will use $2.1M to complete funding for the re-building of the North Library. The department will also try to improve communication infrastructure with Voiceover Internet Protocol or VoIP phones.

Code Enforcement will receive $6.3M for the entire Code Enforcement operation, employing approximately 46 staff to address nearly 10,000 code enforcement cases per year. One focus in the FY 15 budget will be on incorporating mobile handheld devices that inspectors will be able to take out into the field with them. The devices will allow them to map routes, create cases and take pictures and notes in the field, reducing the time inspectors need to take per case, Angela Reynolds, Deputy Director of Development Services said.

The budgets, along with all other city departments’ budgets, are required to be approved by September 15.