Long Beach is in for much more economic pain than originally anticipated as the city’s projected economic shortfalls were adjusted Tuesday night to reveal a hole in the annual budget that could be as much as $41 million.
A staff report given to the council Tuesday night revealed that “general economic growth,” departmental savings, a rise in the price of oil and sales tax largely contributed to the roughly $8 million in surplus that the council distributed Tuesday night.
When the Long Beach City Council wound down its budget cycle in September it projected shortfalls in 2019 and 2020 amounting to about $19 million. However, in light of recent litigation, city staff disclosed yesterday that those projections have grown which could leave the city poised for more cuts in services in the coming years as the budget is balanced.
The Long Beach City Council voted unanimously this week to approve an $858 million budget for the Port of Long Beach for the upcoming fiscal year, with a large percentage of the budget being dedicated to modernizing and improving the Port.
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 technology was their main goal.
Newly-minted 9th District Councilmember Rex Richardson is doing something previously unheard of in Southern California: providing residents a direct hand in how to spend $250K in funds given to District 9.
California Governor Jerry Brown’s proposed 2014-15 budget was released last week and includes a $155-billion-dollar blueprint with the bulk of the new money proposed to be spent going to schools.
In 2005, the City of Alhambra—along with 46 other cities, including Long Beach—filed a lawsuit against the County of Los Angeles claiming that they were overcharged in property tax administration fees (PTAF). After a ruling by the California Supreme Court in favor of the cities back in November, Long Beach has reached its settlement with the County and will receive $4,610,296.
Long Beach City Council has unanimously reach an agreement Tuesday Sept. 3 over the $391 million general fund budget with some Council changes and new proposals from the Budget Oversight Committee.
Long Beach City Council is in the final stretch of finalizing the 2014 city budget, which it was announced this week includes a surprise additional $4.1 million in cash.
