City Council Approves Budget With No Tax Increase

By a 3-2 vote, the Long Beach City Council on Tuesday approved the $83.9 million 2011-12 budget that will tap the city’s reserve fund for $1 million to avert a tax levy increase - but not before some contention.

The spending plan is $4.7 million increase from the current budget and reduces the reserve fund to $2.8 million.

City Manager Charles Theofan said the city achieved a budget with no tax increase through an incentive that asked the union to have some of the highest-paid employees to retire without replacements, and by consolidating operations.

“It was particularly challenging this year because we faced large increases in our contributions to the state pension fund and to medical insurance premiums,” Theofan said.

Before the vote, Len Torres handed Theofan and his fellow council members a five-point amendment, including a freeze on all exempt employee raises and a 10 percent reduction of overtime.

“I think we should consider that we can give it another five more days so that I can get answers to the questions I have,” Torres said when he proposed to adjourn the vote.

The council voted 3-2 not to adjourn. Fagen backed Torres, a fellow Democrat, on his amendment that also called to redeploy police officers and reduce four firefighter positions.

Councilmen John McLaughlin, who voted not to adjourn along with fellow Coalition-Republicans President Thomas Sofield and Vice President Mona Goodman, said: “It seems like you’re going after the street crimes unit here, which I believe accounts for a significant number of arrests, … and I’ve … tried to push to hire more firefighters because I think we are understaffed.”

Goodman called it “completely unacceptable” that Torres’ should want to postpone the vote when he had six weeks to study the budget and offer his proposals. Torres said he submitted them to Theofan on May 17, but didn’t receive a response until May 23. He also said his proposal for the firefighters was simply to correct a mathematical error in the budget.

Sofield said Torres submitted his proposals after the May 24 budget hearing, and told him that redeploying the street crimes unit doesn't save money: “They make the same salary whether they are working street crimes or working in uniform."

During the hearings, budget critics argued that fee increases for sanitation and building permits are an effort to make up for the non-tax increase, and that the city must further tap the reserve fund to avert deepening an already $4 million deficit. 

City Comptroller Sandra Clarson said that many fees have not increased in over a decade, and Theofan denied that the city would run a deficit.

Theofan nixed a proposal to install parking meters in town that was expected to generate $400,000 in revenue, and devised other proposals to compensate, including bicycle-renting program that he projects will bring in $317,000.

“This is made up gobbledygook revenue,” Fagen said when voting against the budget. “… It’s just not going to happen.”   

Said McLaughlin: “I believe we have a good budget and we’re going in the right direction.”