More information about Mayor Jean Quan's budget report was revealed over the weekend at a community gathering at the North Oakland Senior Center.

About 300 residents attended the mayor's District 1 Town Hall Meeting on Saturday and listened as Quan laid out her budget options. She was joined by Councilwoman Jane Brunner. (slides by Howard Dyckoff)

Quan said that the city's current budget problems are widespread and touch virtually every government service Oakland provides.

"This is clearly a budget situation that is the worse Jane (Brunner) and I have ever faced," Quan told the audience. "We've been cutting, and cutting, and cutting, and there's not much left."

Besides facing a $46 million budget deficit, Oakland still must deal with declining revenue and increasing debt. One particular nagging debt is the old police and fire pension retirement system, which will cost the city more than $45 million annually unless a new payment option is selected.

The city has been struggling with financial problems since before the Great Recession kicked in. Over the past five years, general fund revenue for Oakland has plummeted from $476 million to about $407 million.

According to the mayor's office, once police, fire, debt and restricted funds are taken out of the budget pie, Oakland only has $26 million available to cover $72 million in programs.

Quan said the all budget-balancing options must be on the table and she has directed her staff to immediately reduce current year spending, further cut travel and vehicle expenses and reduce and eliminate city cell phones. A hiring freeze by the city remains in effect. Quan also said she will try to avoid police layoffs.

"(The budget) is going to force us to do things differently," she said. "We've got to make it through the recession. We've got to make it through without crippling the city, so that when the economy picks up we're ready to go."

Quan's proposed budget cuts include:

• $20-25 million in departmental reductions.
• $10-15 million in employee concessions.
• Revenue increases of up to $15 million, including about $11 million from a proposed $80 parcel tax.

Quan also presented budget options that include the civilianization of police internal affairs, the elimination of all city vehicles (except for police and fire), and fee increases for unnamed city services.

On Saturday, Quan also blasted criticism of her budget option plan.

"When I was the [City Council] budget chair, I never got as detailed a document as what I released last week until late in May" she told Oakland Local. "We really worked hard, because I am a former Council member and I know how tough it is, to make sure that the City Council knew the options. It's a partnership: the mayor does the budget, but Council has to finalize it. I wish that when I was chair of the finance committee that I had detailed numbers about options this early in the game."

Although Oakland's fortunes are similar to many California cities, the financial downturn has been especially acute to local residents. According to Quan, many city neighborhoods have the highest rate of foreclosure or bank-owned property in the Bay Area, with as much as 8% of the total loans in distress. Oakland's unemployment rate is 16.5%, higher than the state's 12.1%.

Brunner said Quan has a tough battle ahead with the budget.

"I wouldn't want to be in Jean's seat right at this moment," Brunner said.

Besides the budget, the town hall also was abuzz with breakout sessions on topics such as economic development and zoning, along with public safety, youth and schools. Near the end of the meeting, priorities and solutions developed during the sessions were announced to the larger crowd.

The majority of the mayor's executive team were at the Saturday meeting. Many, like Oakland Police Chief Anthony Batts, were engaged in extensive one-on-one conversations with residents -- or, like education advisor Lewis Cohen, they led breakout sessions.

Quan's 85-page budget options is on the agenda for the April 12 City Council meeting. She will release a full line-by-line budget later this month.