Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson and City Manager Tom Modica unveiled a proposed fiscal year 2027 budget that targets a net elimination of 413 city positions to close a projected $58.2 million structural deficit in the city’s General Fund. City officials estimate that about 180 occupied employees could ultimately lose their jobs if the spending plan wins approval, while remaining reductions will target vacant roles, transfers, and internal personnel shifts designed to minimize direct layoffs.
The sweeping fiscal proposal addresses recurring budget shortfalls through a mix of workforce reductions, targeted service cuts, and ongoing operational savings. Although the mayor restored 70 positions that had been slated for elimination in the city manager’s original draft, hundreds of jobs will still vanish across nearly every municipal department as the city attempts to align expenditures with incoming revenues.
According to city data, the deepest workforce reductions fall on the Parks, Recreation and Marine department, which faces a net loss of 142 positions. The Long Beach Police Department will lose 72 positions, followed by Health and Human Services with 66 positions, Public Works with 43, Technology and Innovation with 24, and the Long Beach Fire Department with 21 net positions eliminated.
Several smaller departments will also absorb staffing contractions. Financial Management will lose 13 positions, Community Development drops by nine, Human Resources loses three, Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Communications drops by two, and Economic Development and Opportunity also loses two positions. The City Clerk and City Auditor offices will each lose a single position, while the City Manager’s office avoids cuts entirely following mayoral interventions.
| City Department | Net Positions Eliminated |
|---|---|
| Parks, Recreation & Marine | 142 |
| Police | 72 |
| Health & Human Services | 66 |
| Public Works | 43 |
| Technology & Innovation | 24 |
| Fire | 21 |
| Financial Management | 13 |
| Community Development | 9 |
| Human Resources | 3 |
| Disaster Preparedness & Emergency Communications | 2 |
| Economic Development & Opportunity | 2 |
| City Clerk | 1 |
| City Auditor | 1 |
| City Manager | 0 |
Public Safety, Police Services, and Homelessness Response
Despite heavy reductions across municipal ranks, Mayor Richardson recommended a partial restoration of the police department’s Quality of Life Unit. The specialized unit partners with homeless outreach teams to handle neighborhood problem-solving and address street-level complaints. The city manager’s initial draft would have slashed the unit from eight officers down to two, but Richardson restored two positions to keep four officers assigned to the detail.
“Quality of Life provides, like, neighborhood problem-solving, some level of support as the outreach workers do their jobs. And so we’re restoring it back to — back to four,” Richardson said, emphasizing that addressing homelessness remains a key local priority despite fiscal constraints.
Even with those targeted restorations, the budget proposal scales back several broader homeless-response programs. Weekend homeless outreach will be pared back except during active emergencies, the Mobile Access Center fleet will shrink from two vehicles to one, homelessness-prevention services will decrease, and emergency hotel voucher funding will face cuts alongside the elimination of several homelessness-services jobs. At the same time, the mayor’s recommendations lean on non-General Fund revenue to preserve funding for rental assistance and housing navigation programs.
In the fire department, the spending plan eliminates a net 21 positions after Richardson restored 12 roles, including funding necessary to keep one rotating engine company active. However, the budget continues rotating closures among six engine companies and permanently eliminates one fire engine serving the Colorado Lagoon area, a cost-saving measure that has drawn sharp criticism from local firefighters and community residents.
Impact on Community Programs, Libraries, and City Services
Residents across Long Beach will experience tangible reductions in municipal services under the proposed spending plan. The Be S.A.F.E. summer program, youth activities at Cesar Chavez Park, and programming at the Homeland Cultural Center are all slated for scalebacks. Meanwhile, the Library, Arts and Culture department will lose a net 14 positions, and individual library branches will return to a reduced five-day operating schedule.
City leaders maintain that these painful reductions are necessary to do more than simply balance the upcoming fiscal year’s ledger. According to city administration, the plan aims to eliminate Long Beach’s recurring structural deficit and start replenishing municipal reserves that were drained during recent economic pressures.
“Our five-year forecast shows the structural deficit contained over the next two fiscal years,” Richardson said, adding that new Measure A revenue approved by voters is projected to cover the remaining shortfall if revenue and expenditure trends hold steady. The mayor noted that the strategy could position Long Beach to achieve its first significant and sustained structural surplus in more than a decade by the year 2028.
City Manager Tom Modica stressed that relying on emergency reserves to navigate past financial hurdles was a temporary fix that now requires strict discipline. To start rebuilding that financial cushion, Modica proposed depositing nearly $10 million back into the city’s emergency reserve during the current budget cycle, with additional annual contributions planned for future years to restore both emergency and operating reserves.
Next Steps in the Budget Adoption Process
The proposed fiscal spending plan now moves to the Long Beach City Council for a comprehensive series of public budget hearings. Council members hold the authority to approve, reject, or amend the mayor and city manager’s proposals before adopting a final budget that will govern municipal operations for the fiscal year beginning October 1, 2026.
Worth a look