City Council approves $6M capital bond

After a hearing in which the numbers — and the accusations —were flying, the Long Beach City Council on Tuesday approved a $6 million bond proposition to fund several capital projects, including building upgrades, restoration of bulkheads and elevated water storage tanks and road reconstruction.

The building improvements are the most costly item, an estimated $3.1 million, which includes the ongoing rehabilitation at the Indiana firehouse on West Park Avenue and a new roof at City Hall.

The new bulkheads, to be constructed along city-owned property on the north side of the Canals, have a projected cost of $1.7 million, and the water storage tanks are expected to cost $350,000. And while $753,000 will be devoted to road improvements, the city has not yet named the streets that will be upgraded. The bonds for each project have a life of 15 to 40 years.

Addressing the city’s finances before the 4-1 vote, City Manager Charles Theofan said that debt service is now $5.1 million, or 6.5 percent of the city’s operating budget, and that if the bond proposition passes, that proportion would increase to about 8 percent. Theofan compared the city’s ratio with other municipalities that are, in some cases, much higher, including the Town of Oyster Bay, at 23 percent, the City of Glen Cove, at 16 percent, and Nassau County, at 11.7 percent.

The lone council member voting against the proposition, Denise Tangney, said she was doing so not because she opposed it, but because the city still did not have its final audit available for the previous fiscal year, and she felt she could not make an informed decision on the proposition. “We should have the financials before we vote on the bond,” Tangney said, adding that the audit should also be reviewed by both independent and state auditors.

Theofan said that those numbers come late every year, in part because the city Housing Authority is not required to close its books until Dec. 31. He also argued that when an $8 million bond was approved last year, Tangney and others did not oppose it. “It’s the same process as it’s always been done,” he said.