Thursday, October 1, 2026
Taxes are expected to go up in Long Beach this coming year, after the City Council proposed a budget with a tax rate slightly higher than before.
If adopted, the new budget — at a 4.96 percent tax rate — could cost homeowners an extra $219. Public hearings are set for May 3 and May 17.
But there is some silver lining, city officials said, at least from a fiscal responsibility standpoint. The proposed $95.5 million budget requires no borrowing, a “substantial departure” from previous years, when Long Beach took on more debt to pay costs for departing employees.
This time around, however, officials were able to fully budget separation costs, like severance pay. Long Beach officials budgeted $2.5 million for such costs, a little less than 3 percent of the total city’s total expenses.
The city also expects to benefit from both an arbiter’s decision with the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, and an agreement reached earlier this month with the Commanding Officers Association that will cap payouts for new officers and retirements in the future.
That was among a number of bright spots inside Long Beach’s finances for the coming year, according to City Manager Donna Gayden. Her leadership team also finally settled a 30-year-old lawsuit filed by developer Sinclair Haberman that cost Long Beach $75 million over the long-delayed plans to build a pair of residential towers. If it hadn’t been settled, Long Beach could have been on the hook for double that.
The proposed budget doesn’t include this settlement.
Also, the bond rating agency Moody’s raised its outlook on the city’s financial position as “positive,” while the state comptroller’s office has lowered the city’s fiscal stress level to “susceptible.” In 2019, Long Beach had been rated the state’s most fiscally stressed municipality.
The city also has been criticized by credit-rating agencies in the past for its practice of borrowing money to pay for employee separations.
Frank McQuade, a Republican and longtime Long Beach resident, was critical of the budget.
“The budget does not dig into cutting expenditures nearly enough,” he said in an email. “We’re nearing the tipping point on how much tax-dependent revenue can increase. Cut spending and start to think creatively to convert Long Beach into a desirable destination for tourists, a place that respects our business community and a creative recruiter of white-collar and professional business. No more sleight-of-hand bailouts.“
The new budget takes effect July 1.
“As the world knows, Covid-19 still presents a personal threat to individuals, but broad economic impacts began to abate in the 2021-22 fiscal year, stimulating a relatively robust financial recovery,” Gayden wrote in a message to Long Beach residents.
Thanks to diminishing Covid rates in the city, she added, Long Beach was able to see more revenue from sales tax — about $600,000 more than in recent years — and property levies.
The council is still considering raising beach fees as a means of plugging a $1.1 million shortfall. Resident family plan passes — the most popular — would rise from $90 to $115. Non-resident families would pay $230 instead of $180.
“Two years on, we are encouraged — not only by the changes that have occurred, but also by the pace of change,” Gayden said. “A massive overhaul of policies and practices has the city turning the corner toward modern management and leadership. The proposed budget represents the next step in the resurgence of Long Beach.”
