Oakland will have to consider serious cuts to balance its budget. The finance department sounded the alarm on Friday and said the balance sheet needed to be balanced budget now or declare a fiscal emergency.
The city said it is already spending money from its emergency reserves.
Oakland is facing a $93 million deficit for this fiscal year ending in June 2025. Since then public safety takes up the majority of the budget, experts believe any cuts will likely include police and fire services.
“Cutting an already truncated police department makes absolutely no sense, and cutting the fire department makes absolutely no sense,” said Oakland resident Tahira Hodge.
Hodge and her family were evacuated from their home last month during the Keller Fire. She credited the fire department with saving her neighborhood.
“I looked outside and saw all the smoke and there was some fire in the trees. I thought, ‘Oh my God,'” said Hodge.
In an emergency budget plan released in June, the city talked about reducing the police force to about 600 officers. The city has approximately 670 officers.
Oakland had 613 officers in 2013. At six hundred, it would be the smallest police force in years.
The emergency plan also recommended eliminating a handful of fire stations, freezing positions in city departments and reducing hours at recreation centers, libraries and senior centers.
“My priority is public safety and a clean city. I need the police and fire departments to respond,” said Oakland Councilman Noel Gallo, who represents District 5.
Gallo and others had warned Mayor Sheng Thao and her city council allies about this financial mess back in June. The current budget depends on the sale of the Oakland Coliseum. But the city received no money from the deal.
“We’re going to have to negotiate with the unions. We’re going to have to make some cuts. We may have to lay off some people,” Gallo warned.
He said cuts alone won’t be enough; this requires concessions from the unions.
“Crime rates are down, and that’s restoring positivity for people who want to come shop in Oakland and do business in Oakland,” said business owner Alicia Kidd of downtown’s Coco Noir Wine Shop and Bar.
Many business owners and residents fear that any cuts to vital services will derail progress in public safety.
“Safety is number one. And it has to be, because if it’s not, businesses will close,” Kidd said.
“We need the fire department and the police because there is too much crime in Oakland,” said Oakland resident Morde Ehrenfeld.
Mayor Thao has been recalled and will leave office once the election results are announced on December 5. The City Council will meet Tuesday to discuss solving the budget crisis.
Other than this budget year, city officials estimate that Oakland will run a $120 million structural deficit every year between 2025 and 2027.
