Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao is proposing to tackle the city’s historically large budget deficit without laying off any city employees by implementing a hiring freeze, reorganizing some city departments and leveraging some new revenue sources.

The city is facing a roughly $360 million general fund shortfall over the next two years, largely created by the end of federal COVID-19 pandemic relief funding, lackluster real estate sales tax income and sagging hotel occupancy taxes, according to Thao’s budget document that was published Friday.

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Kiley Russell writes primarily for Local News Matters on issues related to equity and the environment. A Bay Area native, he has lived most of his life in Oakland. He studied journalism at San Francisco State University, worked for the Associated Press and the former Contra Costa Times, among other outlets. He has covered everything from state legislatures, local governments, federal and state courts, crime, growth and development, political campaigns of various stripes, wildfires and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.