On May 1, Oakland’s interim mayor will roll out the city’s proposed 2025–2027 budget, which will look to address a $280 million projected deficit over the next two years. As Oakland navigates this moment of leadership transition, policymakers, administrators, employee unions, and community must work together to find creative ways to reduce spending and grow revenues. Although the structural budget deficit cannot be closed in this budget cycle, the city can pass a balanced budget that commits to sound financial practices, lays the foundation for reforms to Oakland’s governance structure, and builds the city’s capacity to grow economic prosperity for all Oaklanders.

Procuring goods and services is a critical facet of San Francisco’s operations, totaling more than a third of the city’s annual budget. Although the system aims to enhance service delivery and foster sustainable practices, its web of regulations results in a process that takes months or even years, limits competition, and increases costs for public goods and services. We talked to SPUR’s Nicole Neditch about how San Francisco can make its procurement system more effective, equitable, and responsive to community needs.

Drastic cuts in the Bay Area’s transit services are all but guaranteed absent a regional transit funding measure. Senate Bill 63 would authorize several counties to place a tax measure on the November 2026 ballot in an effort to avoid such cuts. SPUR strongly supports the bill because it represents a practical and politically realistic framework to keep the region’s largest transit operators from going over a fiscal cliff.