Long Beach Tax Push for Affordable Housing Funding Fails

A proposed Long Beach parcel tax that promised a new funding stream for affordable housing, infrastructure and public safety won’t make the November ballot after supporters failed to gather enough valid signatures.

The “Block the Cuts and Build Long Beach” initiative fell about 3,100 signatures short of the roughly 28,000 needed to qualify, after the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder rejected more than 14,000 signatures submitted by campaign organizers, the Long Beach Post reported. The coalition had turned in nearly 40,000 signatures in hopes of securing a citywide vote.

The measure was backed by the Long Beach Firefighters Association, Long Beach Residents Empowered and the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy and would have imposed a per-square-foot parcel tax on qualifying residential and industrial properties. The tax was estimated to generate about $70 million annually to fund fire stations, street and alley repairs, ambulance services and affordable housing production.

The campaign launched in March as city officials grappled with mounting fiscal pressure. Long Beach is projecting a $61 million budget deficit by 2027, driven by rising costs and slowing revenues, and officials have warned that service cuts are likely in the coming fiscal year.

Affordable housing advocates said the failed ballot effort doesn’t change the city’s underlying needs.

“Although we did not qualify for the ballot, the needs that inspired this campaign remain,” Andre Donado, executive director of Long Beach Residents Empowered, said. “Our communities still need more affordable and social housing, stronger investments in critical infrastructure, public health and essential public services that help neighborhoods thrive.

Qualifying for the ballot wouldn’t have necessarily guaranteed its victory in November. The city previously abandoned plans for its own eight-cent parcel tax after polling found 80 percent of respondents opposed the levy, even if the revenue would preserve core services such as police, fire protection and street repairs.

With a $61 million budget deficit looming and the parcel tax now dead in the water, Long Beach officials’ prediction of cuts to city services appears to be a foregone conclusion.

— Chris Malone Méndez