Oakland OKs tax proposal for homeless, parks services

The Oakland City Council approved a plan Thursday to add a March 2020 ballot measure for a 20year parcel tax that would fund parks maintenance and homeless services.

The measure would levy $148 per parcel and give the city about $21 million annually. The funds would be allocated to maintaining storm water, removing trash and reducing homelessness in parks. The city attorney’s office will return to the council with language for the ordinance.

“This is an opportunity for us to do more than we’ve been doing when it comes to maintaining and enhancing our parks,” said Councilman Dan Kalb. “We have been underfunded when it comes to park maintenance and trees and gardeners and cleaning up our parks, picking up our litter.”

The city’s parks are underfunded because Oakland’s Landscaping and Lighting Assessment District — an assessment on homeowners’ property tax bills that was established in 1989 — does not include a costofliving ad

justment, Kalb said.

This ballot measure helps close a yearly $8 million gap to about $800,000, he added.

But the measure has already garnered criticism as some people say city officials lost the trust of voters through their attempt to implement the embattled plan to fund early childhood education and college readiness. In December, the City Council certified Measure AA, which did not receive the twothirds majority vote in November 2018 that is usually required for special taxes to pass.

“I think the council just has a problem that they don’t really fully understand and that is even if they come up with a ballot measure that would otherwise be something that voters might find attractive or important, they have a great credibility problem with the voters right now because of what they did with Measure AA,” said Greg McConnell, a spokesman for the Jobs and Housing Coalition, a group that lobbies City Hall on behalf of businesses and developers.

The city’s move to adopt AA, which received 62% of the vote, prompted a lawsuit in February by half a dozen homeowners and landlords as well as the Jobs and Housing Coalition. A judge in October ruled against Oakland, calling the city’s attempt to enforce it a “fraud on voters.”

The City Council has not yet decided whether it will appeal the judge’s decision. Until they do, McConnell said, the coalition will oppose any future ballot measures.

The proposed parks ballot measure will also require a twothirds vote.

In addition to paying for cleanup of trash from encampments and litter from storm water drains, funds from the measure would pay for counseling services for people at risk of losing their homes and help people who have lost housing.

Details on the homeless services have not been released yet. The legislation will be presented to City Council Tuesday for approval and the final text will be submitted to the city clerk by Nov. 22.