Long Beach council to decide fate of $18M extra oil cash - Long Beach Press-Telegram
LONG BEACH — The City Council on Tuesday will discuss spending $18.4 million of surplus revenue from pumping oil on public safety, infrastructure parks and libraries.
The item, proposed by councilmen Dee Andrews, Gary DeLong, Patrick O'Donnell and Robert Garcia, describes the expenditures as one-time capital improvements and other essential needs.
The largest portion of the money, $7.95 million, would go to public safety.
Among those earmarks are $3.5 million to cover costs of implementing pension reform for police and firefighters, $2.2 million for police overtime and $1 million toward building a tunnel connecting the city's jail and the new courthouse. The remaining money would go toward technology upgrades and replacing two septic tanks at the police academy.
Another $7.45 million would fund parks, libraries, infrastructure and a revamping of the city's website.
Rounding out the proposal, $2 million would be used to grow Long Beach's emergency fund, and $1 million would be applied toward a budget deficit next year.
Three other council members had their own ideas for the oil money in August.
Council members Rae Gabelich, Gerrie Schipske and Steve Neal put forth a plan to use $12 million of the fund to stop cuts to public safety, libraries and parks in the budget for the fiscal year that began Saturday.
The proposal included using funds to stop reductions to staffing on city fire engines.
Others on council
stopped the plan, in part because they said it committed oil money, which fluctuates as the market changes, to reoccurring expenses.If the sponsors of Tuesday's legislation support it, the item would need one more vote on the nine-member council to pass.
The council meets at 5 p.m. in City Hall, 333 W. Ocean Blvd. The meeting can be viewed live on Charter Communications Channel 3, Verizon FiOS Channel 21 and at www.longbeach.gov.
eric.bradley @presstelegram.com, 562-499-1254
Follow Eric Bradley on Twitter at http://twitter.com/EricBradleyPT
03 Oct, 2011--
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