The changes included adding $50,000 for LB Animal Care Services, the result of weeks of well-organized public advocacy by LB Animal Advocates, a newly formed group supportive of LB animal shelter management, comprised mainly of volunteers from LB's animal rescue community. The added $50k (allocated to address findings of a forthcoming City Auditor report on shelter practices including adoptions) comes on top of an addition of roughly $77,000 initially proposed by management for 1.3 add'l staffers. Group supporters called the added $50k sum a good start; co-founder Emily Ann Ghosh told LBREPORT,com that the group still has much work to do and will be meeting with shelter staff to discuss how these funds will be maximized.
Sponsor | Sponsor |
The Council's budget vote effectively hands LB taxpayers a "new normal" with no further restorations of police or firefigher resources planned by management or proposed by the Mayor or Councilmembers. The Council restored 17 police officers deployable citywide in FY17 plus Engine 8 (Belmont Shore) and Rescue 12 (NLB). The City of LB (L.A. County's second largest city) currently provides its taxpayers with a police level deployable citywide roughly equivalent per capita to what Los Angeles (County's largest city) would have if L.A. Mayor Garcetti and L.A.'s Council "balanced their budget" by cutting roughly 30% of LAPD's budgeted officers. The lack of Fire Engine 17 resulted in a multi-unit residence burning across the street from Fire Station 17 (Jan. 2014) until an engine arrived from further away with the fire doubling in size every minute.) In 2012, the Council approved a "Downtown Plan" that significantly increased downtown high rise density.
No grassroots neighborhood groups, or business groups or representatives of LB's police or firefighter unions (the latter, the two largest contributors to a Mayor-led campaign for a June 2016 sales tax increase) testified at the Council meeting in support of restoring additional police or fire resources for taxpayers. In addition to multiple speakers in support of greater funding for LB's Animal Care Services, a number of speakers urged the Council to begin planning to increase funding to build and improve skate parks in FY19.
Sponsor |  |
For months prior to release of the proposed FY18 budget, city management publicly indicated that it would propose to maintain, but not increase, public safety or other taxpayer service levels, noting forecast budget deficits (spending exceeding revenue) in FY19 and FY20. This approach drew no audible or visible opposition from Mayor Garcia (who ultimately recommended Council approval of the FY18 budget) and no motions to restore further police and fire resources for taxpayers from the Council's Mayor-chosen Public Safety Committee (Price, Austin, Supernaw) or Budget Oversight Committee (Mungo, Price, Austin) or from the full City Council.
The FY18 budget's costs include raises previously approved by the Council in 2017 for multiple City Hall employee groups, including managers. During the Council's budget discussion, no Councilmembers or the Mayor sought or proposed remedies for the increasing annual taxpayer costs of City Hall's expanding [LB Business Journal documented] "$100,000 and $200,000 Club."
Sponsor | Sponsor |
The FY18 budget was balanced by not strictly adhering to an October 2013 Council-adopted Financial Policy that specified using "reasonably conservative" revenue projections, a matter management publicly disclosed to the Council's Budget Oversight Committee on July 25, 2017 (before Mayor Robert Garcia released the proposed budget.) City Hall's Finance Director John Gross candidly told the Committee that the FY18 budget would be roughly $7 million out of balance (i.e. requiring spending reductions) if it had applied "reasonably conservative" revenue projections, consistent with the City Manager's budget transmittal letter stated in writing that the proposed FY18 budget had used "reasonably optimistic" revenue projections. Mr. Gross has since said amounts to using "reasonably expected" revenue projections amounts to a different verbal version of the "reasonably optimistic" methodology.
The Budget Oversight Committee (Mungo, Price, Austin) indicated it was comfortable with this, and the full Council accepted it, with management also noting that previous years' budgets ended with surpluses. City Hall also reduced some FY18 insurance coverage, which management told the Council would entail accepting some additional liability risk.
Among the Council's Sept. 5 voted actions was approval of revised Summary of Budgetary and Financial Policies that retain verbiage that "Revenue projections are to be objectively prepared using a reasonably conservative approach" but add a requirement that "the City Manager will report to City Council when a proposed City Council action may violate City Council's financial policies, and provide an annual report of general compliance or non-compliance with all the [Budgetary and Financial] policies."
Sponsor |
City management has for months publicly advised that budgets for FY19 [which will come to the Council after April/June 2018 elections for Mayor and five of nine Councilmembers] and FY20 are currently forecast to include a deficit (spending exceeding revenue) for which management said it will prepare and propose remedies.
Councilwoman Stacy Mungo, joined by Vice Mayor Rex Richardson, agendized an item for the Sept. 5 Council meeting (passed 9-0) asking city management to implement unspecified "mandatory savings targets" for all Departments without reducing taxpayer services (through efficiencies, conservation and the like.) But at the same time, the Mungo-chaired Budget Oversight Committee also recommended, and the Council approved, spending an expected $700,000 surplus in the FY18 budget, not conserving it to address the comign expected deficit.
Immediately following the Council's voted budget outcome, Mayor Garcia could be heard saying, "Love it."
Sept. 11: Text added to indicate a second budget vote isn't required on Sept. 12.
blog comments powered by Disqus
Recommend LBREPORT.com to your Facebook friends:
Follow LBReport.com with:
 |
 |
 RSS |
Contact us: mail@LBReport.com
Hardwood Floor Specialists
Call (562) 422-2800 or (714) 836-7050
