Approved as to Form and Legality
______________________
City Attorney’s Office
OAKLAND CITY COUNCIL
RESOLUTION NO. _______________ C.M.S.
RESOLUTION:
1. AMENDING THE FY 2024-25 MIDCYCLE BUDGET (RESOLUTION
NO. 90326 C.M.S.) TO AUTHORIZE THE TRANSFER OF FUNDS
INTO THE GENERAL PURPOSE FUND AND ADJUST OTHER
APPROPRIATIONS;
2. AFFIRMING THE BUDGET BAL ANCING ACTIONS TAKEN BY THE
CITY ADMINISTRATOR PURSUANT TO THE POWERS AND DUTIES
GRANTED UNDER THE CITY C HARTER AND THE AUTHORITY
GRANTED PURSUANT TO RESOLUTION NO. 90326 C.M.S. TO
MAINTAIN THE FISCAL HEALTH OF THE CITY; AND
3. MAKING EXTREME FISCAL NECESSITY DECLARATIONS
NECESSARY TO UTILIZE RESTRICTED FUNDS
WHEREAS, Section 801 of the Charter of the City of Oakland requires that the Oakland City Council adopt by resolution a budget of proposed expenditures and appropriations necessary for the ensuing year; and
WHEREAS, Section 806 of the City Charter prov ides that all monies received by the City shall be deposited in t he City Treasury, and no moni es shall be disbursed from the treasury without the approval of the City Administrator or of another officer duly authorized by the City Administrator and that no expenditure of City funds shall be made except for the purposes and in the manner s pecified by an appropriation of the Council; and
WHEREAS, Section 504 of the City Charter prov ides that the City Administrator has the duty to control and administer the fi nancial affairs of the City and to keep the Council at all times fully advised as to the financial condition and needs of the City; and
WHEREAS, on July 2, 2024 the City Council passed Resolution No. 90326 C.M.S adopting a Midcycle budget for Fiscal Year 2024 -25, which assumed the receipt of one- time revenues of $63 million from the City’s sale of its fifty percent undivided ownership
2 interest in the Coliseum Complex located at 7000 Coliseum Way (the “Coliseum Site”); and
WHEREAS, the Adopted Midcycle Budget included contingency budget amendments that would automatically take effect if the City did not receive the one-time revenues from the sale of the Coliseum Site within specified timeframes, including budget amendments outlined in the Adopted Midcycle B udget resolution and in Exhibit 3 to the Adopted Midcycle Budget resolution; and
WHEREAS, Resolution No. 90326 C.M.S specifies “That if the $15 million from the land Sale of the Coliseum site is not received by September 1st 2024, or if an additional $15 million is not received by November 1st, 2024, of if the remaining $33 million is not received by January 15
th 2025, the City Administrator is directed to: freeze the hiring of new positions; delay the beginning of new sw orn trainee academies; halt the execution of unfinalized contracts and grant agreements funded from the General Purpose Fund and any Restricted Funds with structural imbalances; halt the approval of unapproved discretionary travel; take any other measures that they deem necessary to preserve the fiscal health of the City; and return to the City Council a plan to rebalance the City's budget with as expeditiously as reasonably possible”; and
WHEREAS, $15 million from the land Sale of the Coliseum site was not received by September 1st 2024, and an additional $15 million was not received by November 1st, 2024 and therefore the contingency budget amendments took effect; and
WHEREAS, the City Administrator deems the Administrative Action noted in Attachment A to the agenda report accompany ing this resolution to be measures necessary to preserve the fiscal health of the City; and
WHEREAS, the City Administrator’s plan to rebalance the City's budget requires City Council adoption of the items noted in Exhibit 1, attached hereto; and
WHEREAS, the First Quarter Revenue and expenditure Report showed a projected current year operating shortfall of approximately $88 million; and
WHEREAS, The City’s Consolidated Fiscal Policy, Ordinance No. 13487 C.M.S., requires that in any fiscal year the General Purpose Fund Reserve Policy is not met, the City Administrator shall present to Council a strategy to meet the General Purpose Funds Emergency Reserve Policy; and
WHEREAS, pursuant to the City’s Consoli dated Fiscal Policy, “the amounts identified as the General Purpose Funds Emergency Reserve may be appropriated by Council only to fund unusual, unanticipated, and seemingly insurmountable events of hardship of the City, and only upon a declara tion of fiscal emergency by the Mayor and approved by a the majority of the City Council, or by a majority vote of the City Council”; and
WHEREAS, the Staff estimates that budget adjustments of $129.8 million are Commented [HB1]: Conflicts with our other report that
reflects 93 m deficit
Commented [AM2R1]: Please confirm because the
emergency declaration uses the $93 million figure correct?
3 necessary to balance the current year without declaration of a fiscal emergency pursuant to the City’s Consolidated Fiscal Policy; and
WHEREAS, the actions set forth in this Resolution constitute the City Administrator’s strategy to meet the General Purpose Funds Emergency Reserve Policy, and avoid the immediate declaration of Fiscal Emergency under the Consolidated Fiscal Policy following the release of the City’s Audited Financial Statements; and
WHEREAS, in light of the extreme fiscal necessi ty the City is facing, the Council had determined in July 2024 that it was necessary to suspend the Charter-mandated minimum budget set-asides for the FY 2024-2025 budget cycle for the (1) Office of the City Auditor, and (2) the Democracy Dolla rs Fund and non-staff costs for the PEC to administer the Democracy Dollars Program, and (3) for Local Measures including The 2018 Oakland Public Library Preservation Ac t” (Measure D), The Library Services Retention And Enhancement Act Of 1994 As Reapproved In 2022 (Measure C), The 2020 Oakland Parks And Recreation Preservati on, Litter Reduction, And Homelessness Support Act (Measure Q), The Oakland Fair Elections Act, Ballot Measure (Measure W), The Government Reform Charter Amendment Of 2022, (Measure X), and The Violence Prevention And Public Safety Act Of 2014 (Measure Z); and
WHEREAS, the City Administration has in troduced a separate ordinance that would amend Oakland Municipal Code Chapter 15.62 (the “Affordable Housing Trust Fund”) to provide that the City Counci l may, upon a declaration of extreme fiscal necessity, appropriate funds in the Affordable Housing Trust Fund distributed to the City under redevelopment dissolution laws to be used for any lawful purpose; and
WHEREAS, the City Administration has introduced a separate resolution that would amend Resolution No. 87062 C.M.S., wh ich established t he Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Distribution Tax Sub-Fund within the General Purpose Fund for the purpose of collecting said tax revenues, to provide that the City Council may, upon a declaration of extreme fiscal necessity, suspend the require ment to consider the Advisory Board’s recommendations prior to appropriating the Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Distribution Tax funds; and
WHEREAS, Since July 2024 the City’s fiscal condition has become more severe; now therefore be it
RESOLVED: That the City Council hereby amends the Adopted Midcycle Budget for Fiscal Year 2024-25 as detailed in Exhibit 1; and be it
FURTHER RESOLVED: That the Council declares that the City is experiencing a severe financial event and state of extreme fiscal necessity, and
FURTHER RESOLVED: That the City Administrato r is directed to take all measures that they deem necessary to preserve the fiscal health of the City in accordance
4 with the laws of the State of California and the City of Oakland; and be it
FURTHER RESOLVED: That the City Council affirms the plan to rebalance the City's budget and the administra tive actions presented in Attachment A to the accompanying staff agenda report; and be it
FURTHER RESOLVED: That the Council hereby dec lares that the City is experiencing a severe financial ev ent and state of extreme fiscal necessity and hereby suspends the required restrictions on the use of certain funds in the Affordable Housing Trust Fund (1870), subject to Council’s adoption of the ordinance amending the Affordable Housing Trust Fund referenced herein,; and be it
FURTHER RESOLVED: That the Council hereby dec lares that the City is experiencing a severe financial ev ent and state of extreme fiscal necessity and hereby suspends the required restrictions on expendi tures for the Sugar Sweetened Beverage Tax Sub-Fund (1030); and be it
FURTHER RESOLVED: That this Resolution shall take effect immediately upon its passage.
IN COUNCIL, OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA,
PASSED BY THE FOLLOWING VOTE:
AYES - FIFE, GALLO, JENKINS, KALB, KAPLAN, RAMACHANDRAN, REID, AND
PRESIDENT FORTUNATO BAS
NOES –
ABSENT –
ABSTENTION –
ATTEST:
ASHA REED
City Clerk and Clerk of the Council of the
City of Oakland, California