Long Beach is proposing deep cuts and hundreds of layoffs and eliminated positions as it tries to close a $58.2 million budget deficit.<\/p>\n
But at the same time, the city\u2019s proposed fiscal year 2027 budget shows higher pay for some of the people at the top of City Hall, including the mayor, city manager, city councilmembers and several department directors.<\/p>\n
The proposed budget eliminates 483 positions \u2014 220 vacant and 263 filled \u2014 though the city says it hopes to limit layoffs. In his budget message, City Manager Tom Modica called for \u201cdifficult choices and shared sacrifice\u201d with every department asked to find ongoing savings.<\/p>\n
But the proposed budget also shows higher pay for some city leaders.<\/p>\n
Mayor Rex Richardson\u2019s annual salary is budgeted to rise $5,763, from $192,323 to $198,086 a year.<\/p>\n
City Manager Tom Modica\u2019s $384,697 salary comes with a 3.01% increase this year, worth $11,487, according to Modica.<\/p>\n
City councilmembers\u2019 salaries would go up approximately $1,829, from $47,693 to $49,522 a year. Under the City Charter, councilmembers make 25% of the mayor\u2019s salary.<\/p>\n
Several department directors are also budgeted for thousands of dollars more while their departments face staffing cuts. Many of the increases are required by the City Charter, employment contracts or labor agreements.<\/p>\n
Richardson and Modica tell NBC4 they will donate their increases.<\/p>\n
No councilmember who responded to NBC4 said they would do the same.<\/p>\n
Who is getting more pay \u2014 and what is being cut in their departments?<\/p>\n
The proposed budget shows higher pay for several department heads whose departments are also facing cuts.<\/p>\n
The Director of Library, Arts and Culture is budgeted to go from $261,265 to $269,104 \u2014 $7,839 more, while the department faces a structural reduction equal to 12 positions.<\/p>\n
The Human Resources Director is budgeted to go from $264,955 to $271,147 \u2014 $6,192 more, while Human Resources faces structural reductions equal to about 5.7 positions.<\/p>\n
The Director of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Communications is budgeted to go from $261,265 to $266,491 \u2014 $5,226 more, while that department faces a reduction equal to two positions.<\/p>\n
The Technology and Innovation Director is budgeted to go from $261,866 to $267,103 \u2014 $5,237 more, while that department also faces staffing reductions.<\/p>\n
Fire Chief Dennis Buchanan\u2019s salary is budgeted to rise $7,392, from $305,066 to $312,458. At the same time, the Fire Department faces structural reductions equal to about 33 positions, including the proposed elimination of Fire Engine 14.<\/p>\n
Not every top city official is budgeted for more pay. Police Chief Wally Hebeish\u2019s salary is budgeted to decrease $2,272, from $319,955 to $317,683. The amount budgeted for the Parks, Recreation and Marine director also remains unchanged.<\/p>\n
City Manager Tom Modica told NBC4 that department directors are represented by the Long Beach Management Association, a collective bargaining group.<\/p>\n
\u201cTheir salaries cannot be reduced without agreement by the union,\u201d Modica told NBC4.<\/p>\n
He said their increases \u201care determined on a pay-for-performance schedule and cost-of-living increase as outlined in the LBMA management agreement.\u201d According to Modica, the last cost-of-living increase for that group was 1%.<\/p>\n
The proposed cuts extend well beyond those departments, including structural reductions equal to about 68 positions in police, 33 in fire, 24 in public works, 23 in parks and 12 in library, arts and culture.<\/p>\n
Structural cuts are ongoing, meaning those positions are removed from the city\u2019s budget and would not automatically return in future years. Not all are currently filled, but the city says the proposed budget eliminates 263 filled positions and 220 vacant positions.<\/p>\n
Some cuts are measured in thousands \u2014 not millions<\/p>\n
A few thousand dollars may seem small compared with a $58.2 million deficit. But some of the individual programs and services Long Beach is proposing to cut are also measured in thousands of dollars.<\/p>\n
According to the proposed budget, the city would save $25,000 by reducing cultural classes at the Homeland Cultural Center from four times a month to two.<\/p>\n
It would save $27,488 by reducing part-time recreation staffing as part of changes to the open gym program at Silverado Park.<\/p>\n
And the Parks Department proposes reducing supplemental grounds and landscaping services by $50,000.<\/p>\n
Those amounts show the size of some of the individual cuts Long Beach is considering as it looks for ways to balance its budget.<\/p>\n
Mayor and council offices are taking cuts, too<\/p>\n
The mayor and city council offices are also being asked to cut spending.<\/p>\n
The Mayor\u2019s Office faces an ongoing reduction of $188,847.<\/p>\n
Each of Long Beach\u2019s nine council district offices faces an ongoing cut of $41,631.<\/p>\n
Together, the mayor and council office reductions total $563,526.<\/p>\n
In a written response to NBC4, a city spokesperson said the Mayor\u2019s Office identified \u201c$188,847 in ongoing efficiencies to staffing and operations.\u201d<\/p>\n
Richardson also addressed the reduction in his statement to NBC4.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is why the Mayor\u2019s Office has identified $188,847 in ongoing structural reductions to staffing and operations as part of the FY27 budget,\u201d Richardson said.<\/p>\n
The Mayor\u2019s office has not provided NBC4 with a more detailed breakdown of exactly what staffing or operating expenses would be cut.<\/p>\n
Each council district is allowed to decide how to make its own $41,631 reduction. The office of Fifth District Councilwoman Megan Kerr said it is \u201creducing discretionary spending, including funding for office-sponsored community events and programming.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe office is also reviewing hourly staffing costs while working to maintain constituent services and responsiveness,\u201d Kerr\u2019s office said in an email to NBC4.<\/p>\n
Fourth District Councilman Daryl Supernaw said his office is in a different position because it has historically spent less than its allotted budget.<\/p>\n
Supernaw said his office has saved more than $200,000 annually for each of the past 10 years \u2014 more than $2 million total.<\/p>\n
He said those savings have gone back into his district for infrastructure repairs, tree trimming, cleanups and other projects.<\/p>\n
The proposed budget shows the overall staffing level for the Legislative Department, which includes the mayor and city council, remaining at 62.21 full-time equivalent positions.<\/p>\n
Mayor says he will donate his $5,763 increase<\/p>\n
Richardson told NBC4 he will donate his entire $5,763 increase after NBC4 pressed his office for a response about the higher pay included in the proposed budget.<\/p>\n
\u201cGiven the difficult budget decisions facing the City, I will personally donate the amount of next year\u2019s required automatic annual adjustment, $5,763, to support Long Beach libraries and community-based organizations,\u201d Richardson said.<\/p>\n
NBC4 did not find an earlier public announcement that Richardson planned to donate the increase in city or mayoral materials reviewed since the proposed FY27 budget was released July 30.<\/p>\n
Richardson also said the city should not ask its workers to give back compensation it has already negotiated with them.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the same time, we are not asking our City workers to give back the wages and benefits the City negotiated with them,\u201d Richardson said.<\/p>\n
\u201cCompetitive compensation is important to recruiting and retaining the workforce that delivers essential services to our residents, and we intend to continue the progress we have made on recruitment.\u201d<\/p>\n
City manager is donating his increase, too<\/p>\n
Modica\u2019s $384,697 salary comes with a 3.01% increase this year, worth $11,487 and he says he is donating the entire increase.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, I believe executive management should be a part of the solution when budget reductions are at this scale,\u201d Modica told NBC4.<\/p>\n
Modica\u2019s contract requires his salary to be adjusted annually based on the Consumer Price Index.<\/p>\n
Unlike Richardson, city records show Modica decided to donate this year\u2019s increase before the proposed FY27 budget was released.<\/p>\n
In a June 16 memo to the mayor and City Council, Modica wrote that he had \u201celected to donate the full value\u201d of his 2026 CPI increase. The memo puts that increase at $11,487.<\/p>\n
This is not the first time Modica has donated part of a salary increase.<\/p>\n
He told NBC4 that $15,994 from previous increases continues to be donated each year to efforts addressing homelessness.<\/p>\n
Combined with this year\u2019s $11,487 increase, Modica says he now donates $27,481 of his salary each year.<\/p>\n
His June memo says those donations have totaled $78,885 since 2019.<\/p>\n
Modica said the city attorney determined that donating the money was the appropriate way for him to give up contractually required salary while complying with IRS requirements.<\/p>\n
What about the other city leaders getting more?<\/p>\n
Richardson and Modica now both say they will donate their increases.<\/p>\n
The question is what other city leaders receiving more pay will do.<\/p>\n
Fourth District Councilman Daryl Supernaw told NBC4 he does not believe he has the authority to decline or delay his salary increase.<\/p>\n
\u201cRegarding declining or delaying a salary increase, it is my understanding that I do not have the authority to do so,\u201d Supernaw said. \u201cThe City Charter dictates that City Council salaries can only be reduced by a vote of the people.\u201d<\/p>\n
Modica gave NBC4 the same explanation, saying, \u201cThe salaries of the Mayor and City Council can only be reduced by a vote of the people as it is set in the City Charter.\u201d<\/p>\n
But NBC4 also asked whether councilmembers would consider receiving the increase and then donating it, as Richardson and Modica say they will do. Supernaw did not address that question.<\/p>\n
Kerr\u2019s office also did not answer NBC4\u2019s question about whether she would donate her approximately $1,829 annual salary increase.<\/p>\n
The other seven Long Beach City Council members did not respond to NBC4 by the deadline.<\/p>\n
Department director compensation is governed by a union agreement and cannot be reduced without agreement from the union, according to Modica. But officials can voluntarily donate additional compensation after receiving it \u2014 the approach Richardson and Modica say they are taking.<\/p>\n
Richardson says he will donate his $5,763 increase. Modica says he is donating his $11,487 increase.<\/p>\n
Those amounts would not come close to solving Long Beach\u2019s $58.2 million deficit.<\/p>\n
But as the city considers layoffs, eliminates vacant jobs and cuts programs \u2014 some to save just tens of thousands of dollars \u2014 Richardson and Modica say the \u201cshared sacrifice\u201d being asked across city hall will include their own additional pay.<\/p>\n
The question now is whether other city leaders getting more will do the same.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Long Beach is proposing deep cuts and hundreds of layoffs and eliminated positions as it tries to close…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":447820,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[9180,131,133,132,13],"class_list":["post-447819","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-long-beach","tag-finance","tag-long-beach","tag-long-beach-headlines","tag-long-beach-news","tag-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447819","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=447819"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447819\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/447820"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=447819"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=447819"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=447819"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}