Where does Oakland stand?
During the 2023–24 fiscal year, the city overspent by more than $27.5 million and had to dip into emergency reserves to pay its bills. City policy requires that these reserves stay above 7.5% of the city’s general purpose fund. If it isn’t restored by the end of this fiscal year, Oakland will have to declare a fiscal emergency.
According to a resolution adopted in 2023 on the use of one-time revenues to plug budget holes, Oakland defines a fiscal emergency as the “last and most severe stage of a government entity’s financial solvency problems.”
“An unusual, unanticipated and seemingly insurmountable event or hardship of the city, one such as a natural disaster, ‘acts of god’ or war, public…
