Fiscal Year 2027 Begins; City of Long Beach Provides Update on Efforts to Address Staffing Impacts

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PRESS RELEASE

Long Beach, CA - After a challenging budget-planning process that required difficult decisions to restore structural balance and strengthen long-term financial stability, the City of Long Beach is providing updates on its adopted fiscal year 2027 (FY 27), which takes effect today, Oct. 1. Updates include employee placement efforts that reduced the number of staff facing layoffs.

"We set out with a clear goal: address the City's structural deficit while preserving jobs and protecting the services our residents rely on," said Mayor Rex Richardson. "By working together, we brought our budget into structural balance and reduced the number of employees facing layoffs from 225 to just 17, including zero classified employees. That is a significant milestone and a testament to the work of our City team, labor partners and employees. Our work continues to support the remaining employees and families who are still impacted."

The adopted FY 27 budget identified approximately 399 positions for elimination, including 225 filled and 174 vacant positions. Human Resources worked with City departments, the Civil Service Employee Rights and Appeals Commission and labor organizations to identify opportunities for the 225 impacted employees to move into other available City jobs. Following those efforts, 100% of affected classified employees and approximately 87% percent of affected unclassified employees kept their employment in different available positions. The total number of filled positions eliminated remains 225, maintaining the adopted staffing reductions, however employee layoffs were significantly reduced. Classified positions are those with seniority and civil service protections; unclassified are those positions that are generally management, temporary or grant funded.

This year's adopted budget required the City to make difficult choices. Developed amid one of the most challenging fiscal environments faced by the City in recent years, the Adopted FY 27 Budget was designed to close a $58.2 million deficit, restore reserves and reflect City Council priorities and community feedback gathered through the FY 27 Budget Priority Survey and community meetings, as well as goals outlined in the Long Beach Strategic Vision 2030.

"We have followed through on the staffing position reductions necessary to bring our budget into structural balance while also working to preserve employment for many of the people who do this work," said City Manager Tom Modica. "I am grateful to Human Resources, our departments, the Civil Service Employee Rights and Appeals Commission and our labor partners for helping our workers find opportunities to continue their employment with the City. We also recognize that 17 employees still face the loss of their jobs and have continued to work with them to see if other employment opportunities are available to them.

Following the City Council's adoption of the FY 27 budget on Sept. 8, 2026, the Civil Service Employee Rights and Appeals Commission approved an order of layoff on Sept. 9. Human resources then worked with departments to notify impacted employees and identify placement opportunities to reduce layoffs and employee displacement.

The budget was developed amid rising service costs, economic turbulence, persistent inflation and reduced federal and state support. Restoring structural balance brings ongoing spending into alignment with ongoing revenues, helping the City sustain services into the future. During the budget process the City Council made adjustments to preserve priority community services, including restoring additional Police Department Quality of Life officers and Monday library hours, upgrading a fire engine to a Paramedic Assessment Unit and funding violence prevention among other investments.

The adopted budget also includes an increase in citation fines for 17 traffic safety and hazard parking violations, and street sweeping, as well as sunsetting Cannabis Tax relief to dispensaries. These changes helped restore City services previously slated for reduction.

The City Council passed the budget with a 7-2 vote.

More Information
More information about the Adopted Budget, including information about budget hearings and community meetings, is available at longbeach.gov/fy27.

About the City of Long Beach
Long Beach is nestled along the Southern California coast and home to approximately 466,000 people. As an award-winning full-service charter city, Long Beach offers the amenities of a metropolitan city while maintaining a strong sense of individual and diverse neighborhoods, culture, and community. With a bustling downtown and over six miles of scenic beaches, Long Beach is a renowned tourist and business destination and home to the iconic Queen Mary, nationally recognized Aquarium of the Pacific and Long Beach Airport, the award-winning Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center and world-class Port of Long Beach.

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