1:00pm | It looks more and more like the City of Long Beach budget deficit will impact at least 70 police positions in order to balance the $18.5 million budget deficit, as the Long Beach Police Officers Association (LBPOA) does not seem keen to forego a scheduled 2% pay raise.

City officials say that agreeing to eliminate the pay raise will fix the bulk of Long Beach’s budget problems.

Last night, the City Council predictably postponed their decision to approve a balanced budget, which means that they must pass one at their next meeting in one week. The City Charter demands the Council pass a balanced budget by September 15. But it’s unlikely that the LBPOA will budge from their position in that extra week. Without that financial commitment from officers, the City says they will be forced to eliminate about 75 jobs from the department.

Last year, the LBPOA accepted a plan to forego a scheduled 9% pay raise and instead took an 11% pay raise spread out over the next five years. When the City came calling again this year, officers had apparently had enough.

If the officers were to accept the plan to forego their 2% raise, the City has estimated that more than 20 officers would still be eliminated, although those losses may occur naturally through retirement and attrition. Considering those factors, it’s unclear how many officers would need to be fired in order to eliminate the 75 positions needed if officers don’t accept the pay freeze.

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