PROGRESSIVE BUDGETING

Robust Funding for a Healthy Way Forward

Providing Oakland with the services it deserves requires a healthy budget and new revenue streams. We can secure the necessary dollars if we:

• Increase dollars for other programs by reducing the outsized police budget.

• Build, maintain, and leverage relationships with both the state and the county to gain access to existing reserves, which can be justifiably spent on public health programs in this crisis. 

• Continue fighting for the delayed Progressive Business Tax, which asks our biggest corporations to pay their fair share at an appropriate tax rate. 

• Take inventory of tax-exempt businesses and re-evaluate if all of those types of businesses, especially those that make more than a certain amount, should continue to be exempt. We can also explore creating “luxury” taxes through our sales tax code, levying higher sales tax rates on items regularly purchased only by the wealthy.

  Changes as big as we need them will cost big money, but smart and progressive budgeting can make it happen. I want to bring innovation to the way City Council pushes the numbers around.