There are only 26 letters in the English alphabet, and Oakland is running through them so fast for new tax and bond measures, it has had to double up the letters, so that we get things like measures AA, MM, KK and so on. At this rate, Carroll Fife is already contemplating Measure NNN, which will raise parcel taxes to pay for renaming everything after George Floyd.
That’s a joke, of course—no shade thrown at poor Mr. Floyd, R.I.P. The point is that Oakland’s been on a roll for years in imposing ever-harsher taxes on Oakland citizens and businesses, while at the same time spending money like a drunken sailor on shore leave. And with that cash disappearing down a rabbit hole, the avaricious socialists who run this town are constantly scheming to tap new sources of income—which means to dive deeper into your pocket and rob you of whatever money you still have left after dealing with the Trump inflation.
If Measure E passes in June—a near certainty in this town, where young, dumb voters hate landlords and believe no one, except themselves, should own anything—it will be the fourth-biggest parcel tax in the city’s history:
Measures:
AA: $262/year
NN: $198/year
G: $195/year
E: $192/year
Q: $189/year
And that’s just fine with this City Council, who never saw a new tax they didn’t approve. Now, you’d think that all this parcel tax and bond cash goes toward needed things, like libraries and schools. Right? But that would be a mistake. “Little of Oakland’s overall spending growth has gone to tangible service improvements,” argues Oakland Report, in their April, 15 edition. “Instead, the city’s spending has been increasingly consumed by public employee pay and benefit costs that have consistently risen over the past 20 years, far outpacing the growth in inflation and the incomes of everyday Oakland residents.” In fact, even Oakland’s City Administrator, Justin Johnson, admits that “the city has failed to meet minimum requirements in seven of 21 [special tax] cases overall, including three of the last four parcel tax measures approved by voters.” Since “voter-approved special taxes” have skyrocketed in recent years, from $31.7 million in 2006 to $152.1 million in 2025, that means a lot of money isn’t going where voters thought it would when they approved these tax and bond levies.
So where’s it all going?
“Pension costs are the most significant constraint on the city’s budget,” reports SPUR, the nonprofit, member-supported research group. “Oakland faces severe budget constraints due to unfunded pension liabilities. Pension payments have risen but not enough to offset rises in pension liabilities.” In fact, the number of Oakland staff has not grown over the last twenty years, but the amount of money given to them has soared exponentially. This in turn shifts the financial burden on to residents, including businesses; hence the proliferation of new tax and bond measures. SPUR concludes: “Personnel Costs Represent the Largest Portion of Expenditures… More than half of the city’s expenses are related to personnel, including employee salaries, overtime, retirement, and health care.”
Back to that Oakland Report analysis: In 2023, the average total compensation (salary and benefits) for a single full-time Oakland city employee was $237,000 — a 10-year increase of 79%. All those benefits add 72% on top of base pay, compared to only 41% in Long Beach, 31% in Sacramento, and 33% in San Francisco. Oakland, in short, is the outlier among major California cities, when it comes to slushing salaries and benefits on to their employees. Of course, Oakland’s employee pay and benefits--including all the compensation increases outlined here--were negotiated by the city and its labor unions, and approved by city councils.
And that, in short, is the description of corruption and graft. As long as these unions, dominated by SEIU, maintain their chokehold over spending in Oakland, our fair city will continue to bleed money—and new taxes and bond issues will continue to be dumped on its people.
Steve Heimoff