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Long Beach mayor unveils budget plan highlighting deficit reduction and public-safety gains
Summary
Mayor Richardson presented a balanced budget plan for Long Beach, saying the city cut a structural deficit from $89.8 million to $57.3 million without raising residents' taxes and outlining priorities including core services, economic growth and shelter expansion.
Mayor Richardson, mayor of Long Beach, presented the city’s budget plan and an accompanying progress report, saying the city reduced its structural deficit from $89,800,000 to $57,300,000 without raising taxes on residents.
Richardson said the budget focuses on four priorities: delivering core city services, economic growth, protecting vulnerable residents and expanding shelter and shelter-related services. He credited voter-approved measures and organizational reforms for helping stabilize revenues and operations.
The mayor said Measure LB, passed in November, closed what he described as “outdated tax loopholes” related to local power plants and provided new ongoing revenue. He also cited Measure JB and a civil-service and human-resources consolidation as steps that put Long Beach “on track” to expand shelter and services, including opening a youth navigation center this week as part of the Grow Long Beach initiative.
Richardson highlighted recent economic development, saying he and Council Member Kerr welcomed Ford Motor Company back to the city, with “hundreds of engineers designing the future of electric vehicles.” He also pointed to crime reductions, saying commercial burglary was down about 34.5% and property damage was down about 25% in recent comparisons.
City leaders framed the budget as aimed at sustaining those gains while addressing staffing shortages. Richardson said the city had deliberately prioritized restoring and improving delivery of core services and engaging community members as priorities for the coming year.
No formal vote or ordinance was recorded in the available transcript excerpt. The mayor’s remarks covered the administration’s framing of recent ballot measures, service priorities and economic development efforts; the transcript did not include detailed line-item budget numbers, implementation timelines or council actions required to adopt the budget.
Richardson’s presentation also referenced the Grow Long Beach initiative as a post-pandemic economic strategy and the recent opening of a youth navigation center and shelter; the transcript did not specify the shelter’s operating partner, capacity or start-up budget. The mayor attributed revenue improvements in part to Measure LB and organizational changes under Measure JB but did not provide the exact projected revenue totals or fiscal-year dates in the available remarks.
