Budget Hearings Scheduled

A tentative schedule of budget hearings has been released by City Manager Pat West’s office.

Under the City Charter, Mayor Bob Foster must present the City Council with a proposed budget on or before Aug. 1. Tuesday was the last City Council meeting in July, so the first public workshop is scheduled for Aug. 5.

At that workshop, scheduled for 3:30 p.m. in council chambers at City Hall, the mayor and city manager will present an overview of the budget along with specific budget proposals. Two more workshops are scheduled on Aug. 12 and 19 with budget presentations from specific departments as well as council deliberation and time for public comment.

No action can be taken at those workshops, or at a workshop from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 2.

The first budget hearing is set for 7 p.m. that same day, and the council could pass the budget at that time.

If no agreement is reached on Sept. 2, the council could have another workshop and another hearing on Sept. 9.

The budget must be adopted by Sept. 15, making the Sept. 9 meeting the last regularly scheduled hearing before the deadline.

Once the budget is adopted, the mayor has five days to exercise any line-item vetoes. If he vetoes any portion of the budget, the council then has until Sept. 30 to act (which would require a special meeting due to the way in which the calendar falls).

Foster did not use his veto power during last year’s budget process.

More information about the process and a copy of the current budget is available at the city’s Web site, www.longbeach.gov.

—Harry Saltzgaver