Long Beach just limped its way out of last year’s money problems on splintered fiscal crutches. It probably can’t outrun next year’s without some pain.
The city is facing up to an $80 million deficit in 2027 after climbing debts in 2024 and 2025 that, coupled with declining revenues, forced departments to exhaust reserves meant to cover future shortfalls.
In a year-end report released this week, city officials said they finished fiscal year 2025, which started October 2024 and ended September 2025, about $40 million over budget. This forced the city to use up a chunk of reserved monies, including about $20 million saved from pandemic-era funding and millions more previously set aside for a cannabis tax relief pilot, disaster response and a police crime lab, among other examples…