The city is skipping its Q1 Revenue and Expenditures Report this year. And the Q2 report will not be available until early March, leaving only four months to adjust spending if there is a deficit.
Tim, thank you for this important update. Imagine if you did not check your household bank account or credit card balances for nearly six months. That is something akin to what the city council is doing by not reviewing the city’s quarterly financial reports.
I can’t believe that Council Members are flying the “City of Oakland” airplane blindfolded because the most recent comprehensive city financial report is almost 9 months old!
Really solid analysis on the pension override surplus issue. The fact Oakland could potentially save $20M annually in CalPERS interest payments by redirecting that $262M surplus but hasn't even explored it seriously while pushing for $40M in new taxes is wild. I've seen similar dynamics in municipal finance where restricted funds create weird incentive structures that prevent obvious optimizations. The delayed reporting until March compounds everything because by then there's zero time to make meaningful operational changes if ther's a deficit.
Waiting for the release of the financials doesn't sound right.
The same outside Sacramento CPA firm has been doing the audit for years.
The audit fieldwork would have been completed a couple of months ago, and the financials and footnotes drafted several weeks later. The reports would now be waiting final review by the CPA firm partner and, possibly, comments from Oakland.
It would be unusual for there to be major changes to the drafts previously given to the City for comment.
Tim, thank you for this important update. Imagine if you did not check your household bank account or credit card balances for nearly six months. That is something akin to what the city council is doing by not reviewing the city’s quarterly financial reports.
I can’t believe that Council Members are flying the “City of Oakland” airplane blindfolded because the most recent comprehensive city financial report is almost 9 months old!
Really solid analysis on the pension override surplus issue. The fact Oakland could potentially save $20M annually in CalPERS interest payments by redirecting that $262M surplus but hasn't even explored it seriously while pushing for $40M in new taxes is wild. I've seen similar dynamics in municipal finance where restricted funds create weird incentive structures that prevent obvious optimizations. The delayed reporting until March compounds everything because by then there's zero time to make meaningful operational changes if ther's a deficit.
Tim, thank you for this important analysis of Oakland's finances.
Unprecedented, inexplicable, inauspicious.
Waiting for the release of the financials doesn't sound right.
The same outside Sacramento CPA firm has been doing the audit for years.
The audit fieldwork would have been completed a couple of months ago, and the financials and footnotes drafted several weeks later. The reports would now be waiting final review by the CPA firm partner and, possibly, comments from Oakland.
It would be unusual for there to be major changes to the drafts previously given to the City for comment.