'Rainy day' fund charter amendment may go to voters

When times are tough, common sense says to put that extra cash in the bank, under the mattress, in the cookie jar or wherever else people squirrel away money.

Well, times couldn't be tougher for the city of Long Beach, as officials try to pass a budget that has the largest general fund deficit - $38.3 million - in the city's history.

In the middle of seemingly endless budget talks Tuesday, the City Council approved a measure that would give Long Beach its own cookie jar. Maybe a better term would be a safe, because it would come with a lock to which only the people of Long Beach would hold the key.

The proposal by council members Val Lerch and Gary DeLong is to create a City Charter amendment requiring a "rainy day fund."

Under their proposal, whenever the city's revenue growth exceeds 5 percent over the previous year, half of that money would be placed in the fund. In lean fiscal times, the city could withdraw up to 50 percent of the rainy day fund in one year, but no more than the amount of the revenue decline from the previous year.

The council unanimously approved having the Charter Amendment Committee consider the feasibility of implementing the fund when it meets Sept. 22. The council would have to approve placing the fund on the election ballot, likely in 2010, and Long Beach voters would decide whether to approve the charter amendment.