Here's how you can participate in the 2025 Long Beach budget adoption process
Long Beach officials are expected to release the proposed budget in the coming weeks and are scheduled to adopt the new spending plan in early September.
Long Beach officials are readying the release of the proposed budget for the coming fiscal year that starts in October and community members will have numerous opportunities to weigh in on the spending plan, according to a memo posted by the city this week.
In addition to the scheduled hearings and presentations from individual departments, the city will host five additional community meetings that won’t require residents to make the trip to city hall to have their voices heard.
The coming fiscal year could come with challenges for the city, which is projecting a $23.5 million deficit that it needs to balance out and the phasing out of oil revenue possibly being accelerated by a new state law that was supposed to be on the November ballot before opponents dropped their referendum bid earlier this year.
Senate Bill 1137, which will establish buffers between oil operations and “sensitive areas” like schools, homes, hospitals and parks could result in dramatic consequences for the city. Oil operations in the city have generated tens of millions in revenue annually but that sum is projected to decline substantially over the next few years.
An audit released last month projected that the city will lose about $300 million through 2035, the deadline elected officials set to end oil operations in the city. In 2025, the decrease is projected to be about $12.8 million, according to figures presented to the City Council this month.
Long Beach’s budget issues are also being exacerbated by rising employee wages and other inflationary pressures. The City Council is looking at scheduling a ballot measure for the November election to create a new tax revenue stream to help replace the loss of oil but recent poll numbers didn’t show broad community support for any of the four options being considered by the council.
The council has until Aug. 6 to vote to send a ballot question to voters in November.
Unlike the federal government, cities are not allowed to run deficits and must balance their budgets before adopting them. The city had previously thought the deficit could be over $28 million but some revenue streams over-performed during the current fiscal year.
City officials said earlier this year that unused COVID-19 relief funds would be used to protect the city from having to make painful cuts this year but that funding is likely to be exhausted after 2024 with the city still projecting budget shortfalls in the next few years.
Participating in the city budget process could give residents an opportunity to advocate for projects in their neighborhoods to be funded or for citywide resources like park programming and afterschool safety measures for students to receive funding.
The city is expected to release the proposed budget next week with the first Budget Oversight Committee meeting scheduled for Aug. 6. The first opportunity for the council to adopt the budget is slated for Sept. 10, according to a schedule included in the memo posted by the city this week.
Here’s a list of the upcoming community meetings where residents can learn about the proposed budget near their communities.
Wednesday Aug. 7 Recreation Park Community Center 4900 E. 7th Street
Monday Aug. 12 Cabrillo High School 2001 Santa Fe Ave.
Wednesday Aug. 14 virtual meeting
Thursday Aug. 15 Ramona Park Community Center 3301 E. 65th Street
Monday Aug. 19 Billie Jean King Library 200 W. Broadway
All meetings are scheduled to run from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
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