Amendments to FY 2023-2025
Proposed Budget
Council President Nikki Fortunato Bas
Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan
Councilmember Carroll Fife
Councilmember Kevin Jenkins
Special Council Meeting
June 26, 2023
*Updates since June 14 are in blue text
Revenue & Expenditure Adjustments
● Acceptance of the FEMA SAFER grant to reverse the rolling Fire Station brown out
● Use of available fund balance from several funds
● $3 million increase in assumed revenue from property sales ● $2 million decrease in debt payments to the Coliseum Joint Powers Authority
● Freezing the vacant Council Budget & Policy Analyst position ($300,000) in order to increase DVP grants to address the sex trafficking crisis
● Vacancy savings due to recruitment
1 Expenditure Additions
Community Safety, Prevention & Healing
1. Committing to citywide fire and emergency services (reversing rolling Fire Station brown out)
2. Investing $2.1 million in violence prevention programs ($1 million per year in DVP grants, with $300,000 per year set aside to address the sex trafficking crisis)
3. Adding $391,000 in staffing to ensure 24/7 crisis response to violent incidents
4. Adding community ambassadors in our business corridors ($1 million each year)
5. Increasing traffic safety with $1.7 million — $800,000 to be allocated evenly by each Councilmember ($100,000 each), $770,896 for violence prevention/sideshow prevention, $100,000 per year for traffic safety around Lake Merritt from parking revenue
6. Adding two (2) civilian police investigators to solve crimes (unfreezing two (2) positions)
2 Expenditure Additions
Community Safety, Prevention & Healing (continued)
7. Adding Human Resources staffing to hire and fill vacant MACRO crisis response positions more quickly
8. Unfreezing the Administrative Analyst II position in the Office of the Inspector General (OIG)
9. Adding $100,000 for an OPD staffing study to be conducted by the OIG 3 Expenditure Additions
Housing Security and Homelessness Solutions
1. Creating a Rapid Response Homeless Housing Acquisition Fund with $8.8 million.
This fund supplements the $216 million already in the Mayor’s proposed budget for affordable housing, in order to more rapidly create housing for unhoused residents
2. Adding $1 million per year for tenant legal services
3. Supporting housing and real estate development with: 1 FTE position to coordinate appraisals of properties for acquisition for homeless housing and of city properties for potential sale and redevelopment purposes; $50,000 for appraisals of potential land sales, development and acquisition; and $100,000 to support appraisals, seismic assessments, and environmental
reports for affordable housing acquisition
4 Expenditure Additions
Good Jobs & Vibrant Economy
1. Increasing Cultural Affairs grants by $300,000 each year
2. Unfreezing the Program Analyst II position in the Cultural Affairs Division
3. Unfreezing the Special Events Coordinator position
4. Adding $100,000 per year for activation of Frank Ogawa Plaza
5. Unfreezing the Urban Economic Analyst II in Economic & Workforce Development to provide multilingual business assistance
6. Adding $200,000 per year for the Facade Improvement Program to support small businesses
7. Increasing the Workplace Outreach & Education Contract by $43,000 to account for six (6) years of inflation (total contract would be $283,000 per year)
8. Adding Human Resources staffing to hire and fill vacant Planning & Building positions
5 Expenditure Additions
Clean, Healthy, Sustainable Neighborhoods
1. $953,199 (Year 1) & $850,000 (Year 2) for direct community grants with each Councilmember allocating $119,950 (Year 1) and $106,250 (Year 2)
2. $100,000 per year for the Oakland Public Library to purchase canopies, tables, chairs, and rugs for each library location for expanded outdoor programming
3. Unfreezing the Senior Services Supervisor position in Human Services Dept.
4. $500,000 to SABA Grocers Food Card Program each year for food security
5. $300,000 to SOS Meals on Wheels each year for senior food security
6. $70,000 to Feather River Camp each year
7. $43,200 to Fairyland to restore contract amount each year
8. $40,000 to Oakland Asian Cultural Center to restore contract amount each year
9. $9,180 to Peralta Hacienda to restore contract amount each year 6 Expenditure Additions
Clean, Healthy, Sustainable Neighborhoods (continued)
8. Allocation of $1 million per year in parking revenue to advance equity & inclusion at Lake Merritt via vendor market & events; Park Stewards; parks maintenance; traffic safety around Lake Merritt; staffing for safety and compliance at the Lake
9. Available funds from Measure Q to program for parks maintenance ($1.6M) and stormwater ($126k)
7 Expenditure Additions
Effective Government
1. Adding capacity to Public Ethics Commission with unfreezing of Program Manager position to implement Measure W and adding $155,000 in discretionary funds
2. Adding $10,900 for laptops for job fairs to improve onsite application and hiring
3. To support increased revenue generation and the health & well-being of Oaklanders, adding a Grantwriter under the City Administrator’s Office to:
■ coordinate applying for grants across departments, with a focus on raising revenue
■ seek state & federal grants and collaborate with the Oakland Fund for Public Innovation on private fundraising
This role would focus on seeking grants that address and advance holistic community safety by supporting children, youth, families, parks, and violence prevention, among other things.
8 Budget Policy Directives (highlights)
1. Affordable Housing: development of a coordinated advocacy strategy with County, State & Federal Government for funding and policy that supports successfully exiting unhoused individuals from shelter into permanent housing.
2. Community Safety: staffing and resource analysis of the Oakland Police Department to be conducted by the Office of the Inspector General to: identify current resources; determine the number of officers needed in a particular geographic area; and decide how staffing and operational resources should be allocated.
3. Effective Government:
a. Reorganization Plan and quarterly informational memos to Council and Public, with a report to Council by March 30, 2024 for consideration during mid-cycle budget.
9 Budget Policy Directives (highlights)
b. Vacancy Strikeforce informational report to Council and Public on filling priority positions in Public Works, Housing & Community Development, Planning & Building, and Department of Transportation, and creating a more robust pipeline into City jobs and focused outreach to populations who have historically been economically marginalized
4. Revenue Generation: development of a plan for increased revenue generation, that includes but is not limited to:
● an economic development strategy to grow the tax base; ● development of a new ballot measure to replace Measure Z, the Oakland Public Safety and Services Violence Prevention Act, which expires in 2024; ● partnering with the Association of Bay Area Governments to place a regional affordable housing bond measure on the 2024 ballot; and ● partnering with the Oakland Fund for Public Innovation to develop private partnerships to resource the City’s key priorities.
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