The Oakland City Council this week voted to slash jobs, temporarily close City Hall, and hike parking fees to close a $42 million deficit in the current fiscal year.
The state’s eighth-largest city will balance its budget by laying off 100 workers, eliminating 59 vacant positions, shutting city offices one day a month, closing City Hall for the week between Christmas and the New Year, reducing salaries and budgets for elected officials, and raising some parking fines and meter rates.
Mayor Ron Dellums had proposed even more draconian cuts, including cutting 200 jobs, to close the gap in the city’s $470 million general fund budget, while some City Council members proposed funding cuts for AIDS programs and the arts.
Like other California cities, Oakland has been hard hit by the housing crisis, which caused sharp declines in property transfer tax collections and slower growth in property tax collections. At the same time, the city of 420,000 people has been hit by a wave of crime that’s forced officials to devote more resources to policing.
Dellums fired city administrator Deborah Edgerly earlier this year after allegations that she tipped a relative off to a police investigation. City officials discovered a large and growing gap in the budget soon after her departure.
