Question 2: How would you address the city’s long-term financial health?
Matthew Terry
Over the past decade we voted to raise our sales tax twice. Both times it was sold as a fix, but it was really just a stopgap measure and the permanent solution never came. Now we are at the state’s sales tax cap. The city is pulling the last easy revenue levers, and still the long range financial forecast is negative. Moreover, the perpetual idea of building tourism into a larger revenue stream is a pipe dream because that is not how Seal works. Budget cuts are always an option, but they won’t close a gap this size. Making things worse, we lean heavily on our big box stores at a time when their popularity is declining, and our revenue streams are out of date with how society has changed, so those streams will only lag further behind. The city has said it has no ideas for a new large revenue stream. We need to solve this issue so we hand off a financially healthy Seal Beach to the next generation.
We do have a way out of this though, because our most valuable revenue generator is our land. We have rightly put much of this town off limits to development to protect our small-town charm, but that leaves us dependent on a handful of commercial shopping centers to support the city.
In a year the state will require us to update our housing plan, which means we’ll be rezoning again, so one way or another this process will happen. The only question is whether we use this process to our benefit.
It may sound counterintuitive, but to protect our neighborhoods we need to develop our underperforming shopping centers because our entire revenue system is built on growth.
We need a systematic approach. Audit our shopping centers (not Main Street) for what they bring in today, and what we need them to bring in for a stable future. Then zone them accordingly. Also, master plan everything out i.e. traffic, utilities, services… to eliminate potential issues if and when anything is built.
We have always walked a fine line on development, and as an architect who has lived in Old Town my whole life, I feel like I am uniquely qualified to take this on. We do not need to be Huntington Beach or Santa Monica, but we cannot no-develop ourselves into bankruptcy either.
Matt Smith
The current council has done its best to maintain a balanced budget, which has so far protected us from the crippling debt many of our neighboring cities are experiencing. However, we’re maintaining that position by the slimmest of margins. In other words, there’s likely a storm on the horizon: projected future revenues are lagging behind projected future expenditures, so the status quo won’t suffice — especially if we’re determined to build a surplus and fund our District 1 improvement projects.
Seal Beach must take a balanced approach that protects essential services while strengthening the city’s long-term financial position.
The first priority should be disciplined budgeting: regularly reviewing programs, contracts, staffing, and operating costs to identify efficiencies before asking residents for additional revenue again.
Some are advocating for across-the-board cuts to create more financial flexibility. It sounds prudent on paper, but simply cutting services isn’t a sustainable strategy if it undermines public safety, infrastructure, or the quality of life residents expect. Our Police and Fire Departments account for the bulk of our budget, and as you’d hope, we live in an incredibly safe and secure community.
Still, the city should continue to responsibly address pension and other long-term liabilities (UAL) while working to maintain healthy reserves for emergencies and economic downturns.
Economic development will be a critical part of the solution. There’s considerable unrealized revenue available through hard work, research, and business community outreach. Strengthening local businesses, attracting the right new investment, and revitalizing Main Street and beyond can expand the tax base without placing the entire burden on residents. We have the vacancies, we have the untapped potential—now finding the right partners is mandatory to our overall financial stability and future growth.
When you vote on November 3rd, make sure the box you check is for a councilperson willing to put in the countless hours of research and work needed to locate, negotiate with, and secure these partnerships.
The goal is clear: control costs, grow revenues responsibly, maintain reserves, reduce liabilities, and protect core city services.
Vote Matt Smith for Seal Beach City Council
Perla Mendoza
Seal Beach’s 5 year forecast shows that this next fiscal year the city will be in a shortfall by?$287,426. No plan was offered to address the coming deficit. My first request will be for a third party, independent performance audit with specific recommendations for responsible budget trimming and better value for taxpayer dollars.
Have you noticed your water and sewer bills? Last year we were told our infrastructure was in dire need and the rates must go up and “shovel ready” projects begun immediately. Rates have gone up three times since January 2025 and not one “shovel ready” urgent project has broken ground. The Lampson Well project was projected at $4.1 million when the new rates were adopted and the estimate now, a year and a half later: $8.5 million. This is not an isolated project with run-away estimates. The Los Cerritos water line was estimated at $2.5 million and is now estimated at over $4 million. More consultants are being added to the projects, raising the costs even more–some, like writing bid proposals and overseeing projects, should be done in house by our own engineers. We need to pay as we go…not borrow and ask our kids to pay our bills. We need current, regularly updated cost estimates, and contracting curtailed to cases that require very technical expertise.
Like every Seal Beach family, my household bills have gone up over the last decade. That means making hard choices: cutting expenses or finding additional income. What is not an option is putting it on a credit card and passing the bill to our kids.
Seal Beach faces the same dilemma. They have raised taxes twice, once with BB, again with GG. Now the city wants to charge for parking along Main Street. It is time to trim spending before asking for more money from residents and businesses. Long term, generational debt must not be an option.
The City of Long Beach is facing a deficit and laying off hundreds of employees. The City of Orange faced a deficit and ordered a third-party review; they are now implementing the recommendations. We are not alone in these difficult times, but we need to act now.
Vote for Perla Mendoza for a commonsense approach to our financial situation: an independent performance audit with specific recommendations for responsible budget trimming, minimizing contractors and procuring real-time estimates so projects can be properly prioritized.