FY 2026-27 Proposed Midcycle Budget

Equity Consideration: Restoring O&M resources helps maintain equitable service delivery by ensuring departments have the operational resources necessary and maintains ongoing public engagement efforts.  Police Commission Reductions Proposal to freeze 1.0 FTE CPRA Attorney hinders CPRA's ability to provide timely legal analysis and support to the Complaint Investigators.  Equity Consideration: This reduction will disproportionately affect communities of colors, who are more likely to rely on CPRA to address police accountability.  1. Proposal to freeze 2.0 FTE Complaint Investigator II positions reduces the number of investigators to seven (7), which prevents CPRA from adequately investigating complaints.  Equity Consideration: Freezing these positions will disproportionately impact communities of color who rely on CPRA to conduct independent police oversight investigations. Adequate investigator staffing is essential to uphold CPRA’s mandate, maintain public trust, and ensure that all communities—particularly those most impacted by police interactions—receive fair, timely, and thorough investigations.  2. Inspector General The Office of the Inspector General is maintaining its current budget with no significant changes. As such, there are no anticipated service impacts. No equity analysis needed.    Public Ethics Commission Restorations Reallocates the Democracy Dollars program funding by adding $252,210 for Democracy Dollars software and eliminates $372,135 from contract funds. In 2022, the voters passed Measure W to replace the City’s Limited Public Financing Program with the Democracy Dollars public financing program, administered by the Public Ethics Commission (PEC). Under the Program, all eligible Oakland residents will receive vouchers which they may contribute to a candidate for local office. This funding is necessary for building the software platform that will be used to assign, track, and redeem Democracy Dollars vouchers which will be mailed each election cycle to around 250,000 Oakland residents. Without this software, the Democracy Dollars Program cannot be implemented.   Equity Consideration: The Democracy Dollars Program is designed to address disparities across income and race produced by the traditional campaign finance system. De-funding the software contract would delay program implementation for future election cycles and will result in an opportunity loss particularly for candidates lacking connections to personal wealth or wealthy donor networks due to historical and ongoing effects of racism as well as residents from low-income communities of color the Program is designed to draw into greater civic.  1. Preserves the Limited Public Financing program by adding $150,000 in contract costs. The LPF is a public financing program for candidates running for City Council district office, administered by the PEC, which has existed for over two decades. The LPF Program serves Oakland’s democracy and equity goals by reducing the risk of corruption or its appearance, reducing barriers for non-wealthy candidates to run for office, and by allowing participating candidates to spend more time talking to constituents instead of fundraising. The prior LPF was repealed with the passage of Measure W (2022) to enact a more robust and comprehensive public financing program, the Democracy Dollars Program; however, when that Program could not be implemented for the 2024 or 2026 elections, City Council voted to bring back the LPF Program so that there would be no gap in public financing while the Democracy Dollars Program is being set up. Unused LPF funds have traditionally always carried forward to be used in future elections, which enables the Program to offer more public support to candidates. This proposal ensures expected funds are available to support candidates running for council district office.  Equity Consideration: The PEC’s mission, as articulated in Measure W, is to “empower all Oakland residents with an opportunity to meaningfully participate in the campaign process” and to ensure that “access to networks of wealthy contributors is not a prerequisite for candidates to run competitive campaigns for elected office.” (OMC 3.15.030(A).) Deleting carryforward funds this election cycle will eliminate funds available to distribute to participating LPF candidates, which may harm the City’s democracy and equity goals. Eliminating public financing funding will have a greater impact on candidates who are not personally wealthy or connected to networks of wealth, and are more reliant on the City’s public financing program to run a competitive campaign. Because Oakland's campaign donor base comes disproportionately from whiter and richer communities in Oakland, cutting this support may disproportionately impact candidates whose main support is from more diverse and lower-income communities.  2. Race & Equity Restorations  Restores 1.0 FTE Data Analyst and freezing 1.0 vacant Administrative Assistant II will enable an additional element of technical assistance regarding data collection strategies, maintenance and utilization to complete equity impact analysis and implement meaningful measures related to City services/actions.  Administrative duties will be spread between four staff members to minimize impact on other DRE functions.   Equity Consideration: There will be no, or negligible negative impact on services to marginalized communities. The addition of data analysis expertise will enhance the impact of DRE’s work with departments and City leadership to advance fairness and justice in its services and actions for these communities and all of Oakland. 1. Workplace & Employment Standards Restorations Restores 1.0 FTE for a Labor Standards Investigations Supervisor (placeholder for costing: “Complaint Investigator III”) and reallocates $37,350 in position line items for the Supervisor and the Investigator to establish parity with pay for other Supervisors and journey-level positions in