| |  |  |  Welcome to the City of Long Beach’s Stimulus Bill Homepage 
This site is meant to accomplish the following:
- Explain how the Stimulus Bill works;
 - Explain how the City of Long Beach will access funding;
- Provide an updated list of projects and status for the public and media; and
- Provide a point of contact for the public and media outlets regarding all Long Beach stimulus efforts.
Please check back often for project updates. For more information please visit the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act’s (Stimulus Bill) official home page, available at www.recovery.gov. Please direct all media inquiries or other questions to Tom Modica, Manager of Government Affairs, at 562.570.5091. Overview
On February 17, 2009, the President signed H.R. 1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Stimulus), which provides over $787 billion to jumpstart the spiraling national economy, as the nation faces the worst economic downturn in the last 80 years. This bill funds select infrastructure investments, increases funding to social programs, and includes tax reductions and changes that together are designed to create and save jobs, and help the nation recover. Long Beach was very involved in the creation of the stimulus package, and is now involved in the implementation of the Stimulus, as we work to ensure that Long Beach is in a position to secure as many of those dollars as possible.
Project List
To view a list of all Long Beach Stimulus projects accounts, click HERE
List of Dollars Received
To view a list of all Long Beach Stimulus money recieved to date, click HERE
How the Stimulus will work for Long Beach
There is a common misconception that the Stimulus can be used for any City need. The bill creates nearly 100 different accounts to fund specific federal programs. Each City of Long Beach request must align with a specific account to receive funding. Additionally, funds cannot be used for general municipal operating expenses or general fund support.
City Council Priorities
At the March 25, 2009 City Council Meeting, the City Council approved the guiding principles on how Stimulus dollars should be used in the City of Long Beach. Click HERE to see the approved principles.
Projected Fiscal Impact
The City of Long Beach will be eligible to receive Stimulus funding through two means: direct formula allocation, and competitive grant applications.Formula Allocation A small portion of Stimulus funding will be distributed by formula directly to cities for programs or projects. Some funds will be distributed by the federal government directly, as well as through the State of California or regional governments, and then distributed to cities and regions by formula. Examples of funds that will come directly to the City of Long Beach from the federal government include Community Development Block Grants, Workforce Development Grants, and Homeless Assistance Grants. Examples of funds that come to the City through a regional government include the transportation dollars for local streets and transit funding for Long Beach Transit, which are distributed by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Currently the City expects to receive $54 million in formula funds in a variety of areas that will assist Long Beach. Competitive Grant Applications The majority of funding available to cities will be accessed through a direct grant application process at the State and federal level where the City will compete for funds based on the merit and status of the project. For these funds, the City must submit detailed grant applications for specific projects under the appropriate funding source. Examples of these grants include the State Energy Program, Fire Station Grants, Clean Water Grants, Diesel Reduction Grants and many others. The City has developed applications for 46 projects totalling over $485 million that may be eligible to compete for additional federal funds. Thus far, the City has received over $37 million for 17 of these projects and has another 16 applications outstanding for over $255 million. 
Accountability
In an effort to provide independent assurance that public funds are spent appropriately and effectively and to prevent fraud, waste and abuse of City resources, the Office of the City Auditor will be reviewing projects utilizing Stimulus dollars to ensure compliance with Federal Single Audit or other funding guidelines and requirements. For further information regarding audit oversight, click HERE.
For a link to the Office of the City Auditor's report: Internal Controls Over Stimulus Funds, click HERE.
Fraud/Whistleblower
Section 1553 of ARRA provides broad protection for whistleblowers. Employees of non-Federal employers receiving Recovery funds including States, local governments, contractors, subcontractors, grantees or professional membership organizations acting in the interest of Recovery fund recipients are protected from being discharged, demoted, or otherwise discriminated against for making a protected disclosure. Each ARRA jobsite is required to post signage disclosing whistleblower protections. Disclosure of fraud, theft or misconduct regarding Recovery funding is to be reported to the funding Federal Agency’s Fraud Hotline or the City Auditor’s Fraud Hotline.
Specifically, the City Auditor’s Fraud Hotline is: - Available 24 hours, 7 days a week
- A third-party service provider is used to ensure confidential/anonymous reporting
- Available for employees, vendors, citizens, and other interested parties.
- Telephone number is: 1-(888)-FRAUD-07
For more information regarding fraud and whistleblower resources in the City of Long Beach, please contact the City Auditor’s Office, or visit www.cityauditorlauradoud.com
For more information regarding fraud and whistleblower resources from recovery.gov click HERE
Implementation
As Stimulus dollars are received by the City of Long Beach, this page will be updated. Please check back HERE to see how the dollars were spent.
Reporting
Reports detailing Stimulus funding will be available in October of 2009, shortly after they are due to the Federal Government.
Certification
In accordance with ARRA Transparency and Oversight requirements, the appropriate executive is responsible for ensuring that all infrastructure investments under his or her authority have received full review and vetting, and are appropriate uses of taxpayer dollars. An electronic copy of the City Manager's letter of certification may be found HERE.
An electronic copy of the Long Beach Transit letter of certification may be found HERE.
An electronic copy of the Port of Long Beach letter of certification may be found HERE.
An electronic copy of the Long Beach Water Department letter of certification may be found HERE.
Recovery News
For stories featuring Long Beach Stimulus funding in the news, click HERE
Related Links and Additional Resources: |
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