AGENDA

REPORT
TO: THE HONORABLE MAYOR
AND CITY COUNCIL
SUBJECT: Supplemental to Report on the
Public Safety Ballot Measure

FROM: CHANTAL R. COTTON

Assistant to the City Administrator
DATE:

City Administrator
Approval

July 24, 2014

Date

COUNCIL DISTRICT: City-Wide

RECOMMENDATION
Staff Recommends That City Council Adopt The Resolution To Submit A Resolution On The
City Council's Own Motion Submitting To The November 4, 2014 Statewide General Election, A
Proposed Ordinance To Maintain The Current Special Parcel Tax And The Parking Tax
Surcharge For Police Services And Violence Prevention Strategies, To Address Violent Crime
And To Improve Public Safety In The City Of Oakland, And Directing The City Clerk To Fix
The Date For Submission Of Arguments And Provide For Notice And Publication In Accordance
With The November 4, 2014 Statewide General Election.
REASON FOR SUPPLEMENTAL REPORT
To explain the requested City Administration recommended updates related to the collection of
the tax.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
At the July 15th meeting, the City Council adopted amendments to the draft language presented
that evening. Changes approved by the Council on July 15th include a no layoff provision and a
requirement that the Council budget and maintain staffing of 678 sworn police personnel in
addition to small technical changes and an amendment by Councilmember Gallo to support
youth in the measure.
Item: __11.2____
City Council
July 29, 2014

Henry L. Gardner, Interim City Administrator

Subject: Supplemental to Informational Report on Public Safety Ballot Measure
Date: July 24, 2014

Page 2

The City Administration further reviewed the language with Council's adopted amendments and
proposes three (3) additional changes:

1. Revisions to clarify the use of findings for staffing shortfall exceptions, to clarify the
duration of suspension/reduction of taxes and parking fees for staffing shortfalls, and to

clarify that suspension/reduction of collection is proportional to the number of days of

shortfall.
2. An exemption from the tax for churches and public schools.
3. An alternative explanation of the purpose of the funding for the Fire Department.

In addition, staff included a fiscal analysis of the 678 sworn police personnel for reference for the
public and the City Council.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
For previous reports on this agenda item, visit the following link: http://goo.gl/cBUpKV.
ANALYSIS
Tax Imposition and Levying Changes: The draft language submitted to the full Council on July
15th from the Public Safety Committee did not go into clear detail about when the City would be
prohibited from collecting the tax from this measure. It lacked clarity on the timeframe to stop
imposing and levying the tax, the difference between stopping the imposition and levying of the
parcel tax versus the collection of the parking tax, as well as any detail about how the City would
collect the tax again if the City once again met the requirements of the ordinance. The proposed
staff changes on pages 4-7 flesh out this language to make it very clear about the process for
these items.

Item: __11.2____
City Council
July 29, 2014

Henry L. Gardner, Interim City Administrator

Subject: Supplemental to Informational Report on Public Safety Ballot Measure
Date: July 24, 2014

Page 3
Exemptions: Staff also noticed that the measure lacked an exemption for churches and schools
which is something that other measures have contained in previous years. Staff included this
exemption in this updated draft language for Council to decide upon.

Fire: Staff cleaned up the language for the Fire Department funding uses a bit further from the
Council amendment on July 15th and presented it as an alternative to the amended language for
the Fire Department funding usage.

FISCAL IMPACT
The revenue derived from the taxes imposed by the measure will be allocated as specified by the
ballot measure. In addition, to hire and maintain sworn police personnel at 678 at all time
after July 1, 2016, it is anticipated that the City will need to budget at least 700 sworn police
personnel. This will require approximately $5.3million in additional funding to support the 22
sworn police personnel above and beyond the 678. This amount will grow over the course of the
measure as costs increase.

This cost includes the following items:

Salary, Benefits & Retirement

Overtime

O & M (equipment, vehicles, etc.)

Of note, the costs of police academies, civilian personnel that support sworn police personnel,
facilities, etc. are not included in the estimate above. This fiscal impact analysis demonstrates
that the cost to maintain 678 sworn personnel at all times is greater than the resources required to
budget 678 sworn personnel.
Item: __11.2____
City Council
July 29, 2014

Henry L. Gardner, Interim City Administrator

Subject: Supplemental to Informational Report on Public Safety Ballot Measure
Date: July 24, 2014

Page 4

For questions regarding this report, you may contact Chantal R. Cotton in the Office of the City
Administrator at (510) 238-3301.
Respectfully submitted,

Chantal R. Cotton
Assistant to the City Administrator
Reviewed and Prepared by:
Donna Hom,
Interim Assistant City Administrator
Bradley Johnson,
Assistant to the City Administrator

Item: __11.2____
City Council
July 29, 2014