The Oakland City Council held a special concurrent meeting on Monday, June 1, 2026, from 9:10 AM to 12:43 PM to receive an informational report on the Mayor's Proposed Midcycle Budget for Fiscal Year 2026-27 and the Budget Advisory Commission (BAC) recommendations. The meeting featured presentations from Mayor Lee, Finance Director Brad Johnson, Acting City Administrator Betsy Lake, and BAC commissioners, followed by extensive council discussion and public testimony on budget priorities, structural deficits, and service restorations. Both agenda items were received and filed by unanimous votes (7-0-1, with Councilmember Unger excused).
Mayor's Proposed Midcycle Budget Presentation: Mayor Lee outlined a $2.27 billion total budget ($812.9 million general fund), balanced without using parcel tax revenue (Measure E not yet passed), with no layoffs. Key investments include: preserving sworn police and fire staffing, establishing a constitutional policing administrator to help exit the NSA, restoring illegal dumping cleanup, extending senior center hours to four days a week (9 AM–5 PM), reopening West Oakland Senior Center, restoring library branches and animal services, funding the mayor's summer jobs program, and increasing Measure U capital spending for street paving. The mayor noted that federal/state funding cuts (at least $24 million lost/delayed federal funds; $5 million state homelessness gap) and rising costs continue to strain the budget.
Councilmember Questions and Debate:
Budget Advisory Commission Presentation: Commissioners Ben Gould and Mike Petahoff presented the BAC report. Key short-term recommendations: fully fund voter-approved measures (Measure NN needs 700 sworn officers, currently budgeted for 678; Measure Q parks shortfall of $1.9 million); improve detail on $37 million in unidentified contracts/grants; reassess overestimated revenue projections (sales tax projected 12% growth despite recent declines, utility consumption tax projected $75 million but current year only $70 million). Long-term recommendations: develop a long-term needs assessment for assets (vehicles, facilities, IT), create a public dashboard for voter-approved measure spending, add age metrics to demographic data, improve performance metrics linked to outcomes (e.g., 911 response time vs. call volume), and explore synergy between economic development and public safety (e.g., retail leakage of $1.5 billion, workforce development, public safety ambassadors). Councilmembers expressed appreciation and noted some recommendations align with the city's fiscal roadmap.
This is the spanish interpreter. Isidra. I have not been placed in the interpretation channel. Good afternoon, Maria. We would like to get the good morning, everyone, and welcome to the special council meeting of Monday, June 1st. Before our call roll and give speaker card instructions, we will have one of the translators give instructions for those wishing to listen in Spanish. Back to you. Thank you so much. I will go ahead and give speaker card instructions. If you would like to speak on any agenda item, please fill out a speaker's card before the item is called for discussion or two hours after the start of the meeting. So your last opportunity to turn in a speaker's card will be at eleven ten or before the item is called, whichever comes first. If you're looking to turn in an online speaker card, that time has passed as they were due 24 hours before the start of this meeting. Present. Council Member Guillo. Present. Councilmember Houston. Council Member Ramachan. Council Member Unger. Excuse Councilmember Wong. Present and Chair Jenkins. Showing six members present at this time. Do you have any announcements before we begin? No announcements. Going to item three. Modifications to the agenda. No modifications. Going to item four. Receive an information report on the fiscal year twenty-six through twenty-seven mayor's proposed mid-cycle budget. You have 21 speakers on this item. We are going to kick off this meeting with a presentation. I will introduce the mayor in a second, but Kate Top, could we bring up the first PowerPoint? Thank you. My name is Brad Johnson. I'm your director of finance. Today's agenda will go have some premium remarks by Mayor Lee. I will then provide some context and background regarding our fiscal situation, and I'll hand it over to our acting city administrator to talk more about the budget and its major service impacts. And without further ado, I would like to welcome Mayor Lee to the podium to provide you some opening remarks. Well, good morning, members of Oakland City Council, members of the public. And as a former member of the House of Representatives Appropriations and Budget Committee, that was the framework upon which I viewed federal budgets now, our city budget. And let me just uh commend our finance team. I want to thank Bradley, our department heads for assembling a fiscally sound budget that is balanced, built only on revenue that we can reliably project, and that discover delivers our core services to our residents. Now let me be clear, it does not include parcel tax revenue because Measure E has not been approved by voters. The amount of one-time money used for ongoing services has fallen dramatically in this budget, and this budget does not include any layoffs of our city staff. Residents rightfully want better and more efficient services, and we need staff to deliver core services to Oaklanders. At a time when many local governments are laying off staff, this budget recognizes that Oakland's workforce is essential to maintaining public safety, responding to homelessness, keeping neighborhoods clean, and delivering the services that our residents rely on every day. These budget items, line items are foundational for economic development and for creating jobs here in our city. But the foundational issues must be addressed. Public safety will continue to be my top priority and is heading quite frankly in the right direction. This is a result of coordinated community-wide strategies, and this budget is built to protect the momentum. Now we certainly are not taking a victory lap, but through the trajectory is going in the right direction.