By: Richard Montenegro Brown | Original Article at pe.com
The approval of Beaumont’s budget, which is proposed to include $4 million in cuts and the elimination of 24 positions, was postponed Tuesday, Sept. 1, until the City Council’s next meeting.
Though the council was set to pass the budget Tuesday, approval was postponed because of a failure to properly post notice of the hearing.
Based on the recommendation of the city attorney, the hearing has been extended. Approval of the budget is expected Sept. 15.
Discussion Tuesday night focused heavily on public safety. The Police Department was to take the brunt of the budget cuts, including the elimination of five vacant police officer positions and several support staff positons.
Council directed the acting city manager to come back next meeting with a proposal factoring in one new police officer hire, funding of which will come out of a $440,000 contingency that was set aside to pay for items not included in the $28.28 million general fund being considered for approval.
The budget is 60 days past due from the July 1 start of the fiscal year because Beaumont started its budget process from the beginning after City Manager Alan Kapanicas was placed on paid administrative leave in June.
Kapanicas was placed on leave not long after an April raid of City Hall and the offices of a Urban Logic Inc., a contractor that helped run the city for two decades. The Riverside County District Attorney’s Office, with help from the FBI, conducted the raids. The investigation is ongoing.
Meanwhile, a state investigation into the city’s finances is also ongoing.
Beaumont has been in deficit spending since at least 2007. City officials have been using funds not intended for basic services to balance the budget for years.
Acting City Manager Elizabeth Gibbs-Urtiaga and independent auditors and government consultants hired by the council set a course to undo years of deficit spending, which has culminated in a budget that city officials say is balanced but comes with across-the-board cuts.