California: Tax measure could be on November ballot for Oakland
The Oakland City Council voted Thursday night to begin the process of placing an $18.2 million public safety parcel tax on the November ballot, though it remains unclear if it will resolve the city’s burgeoning fiscal crisis. The ballot measure to pay police officers’ salaries, which the council would have to approve by July 20, in combination with a separate $2.4 million utility tax, would halve the $42.6 million budget deficit for the upcoming fiscal year. But it would do little to stop the ballooning costs of pensions and health care that threaten to swamp the city budget.