Two years ago, Oakland balanced its budget with a gimmick: selling city owned properties to its redevelopment agency to benefit the general fund about $30 million. But now the State’s Department of Finance has said they want that money back and may decimate the city’s reserve fund to do it.
Quan, who will soon unveil her two-year budget, made comments about the clawback at Tuesday’s budget meeting. There she said that their reserve fund, where much of the money from the transaction ultimately went, will be gutted, from a high of $84 million to maybe $30 million. She also warned that City leaders can set a bar of maintaining staffing levels, but there isn’t likely enough money to ensure that happens.
The money that is taken from the redevelopment successor agencies, will be divided between agencies that receive tax dollars, meaning that Oakland will likely receive between 29 and 39 percent of the money back.
Read the full article at the Oakland Tribune.