Oakland's proposed budget makes cuts, but not at public safety's expense

Oaklands proposed budget sees cuts, but not to OPD

Oakland Interim Mayor Kevin Jenkins rolled out his budget plan for the next two years and said his focus is reducing spending while improving public safety.

OAKLAND, Calif. - Interim Mayor of Oakland Kevin Jenkins held a press briefing Monday afternoon to share his plans for balancing the city’s budget. He said his focus is reducing spending while improving public safety.

Oakland's budget

What we know:

Jenkins said he’s worked with the city’s budget team to bridge the gap by reducing civilian jobs over the next two years and increasing public safety resources.

"Residents are demanding that they want to feel safe in the city that they love. That means fire, that means police," said Jenkins.

The city’s financial team, led by budget administrator Bradley Johnson, laid out what they call "a path to fiscal health" Monday afternoon, calling for cuts across the board and strategic spending.

Major Jenkins said the passing of Measure A during the last election will bring in $20 million in the 2025-2026 fiscal year, and $30 million in the 2026-2027 year.

"If the measure had not passed, we’d be looking at a very different situation for fire, because closing four firehouses would have been extraordinarily impactful for our city," said Fire Chief Damon Covington.

Staffing police

The budget calls for six new police academies and two fire academies over the course of two years by cracking down on overtime and focusing on responding to critical incidents.

The city just saw its 28th homicide of the year on Monday morning in the Laurel neighborhood.

Chief Floyd Mitchell said the city is working towards fully staffing the force.

"Getting us back to at least that 700 number where we can staff different events without using overtime," said Mitchell.

To do this, the proposed budget calls for 400 civilian positions to be eliminated, but the city expects only about a dozen people to lose their jobs because the majority of those positions are already vacant or frozen.

Property tax proposal

Jenkins also proposes a property tax that could bring in $40 million more annually if approved by the council, and then voters during the midterm elections in 2026.

This comes on the heels of Mayor-elect Barbara Lee’s swearing in, which will happen at the end of the month.

"I speak with the mayor-elect almost every morning," said Jenkins.

Mayor Jenkins said the proposed budget will be released this evening and presented to the city council at the next budget hearing with the goal of finalizing it by June 30.

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