Oakland Council President Nikki Fortunato Bas and her budget team of Councilmembers Carroll Fife, Dan Kalb, and Noel Gallo sent a joint letter to Mayor Libby Schaaf, Administrator Ed Reiskin and Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong on July 1 expressing serious concerns that the administration and police department have been sharing inaccurate and misleading information regarding police funding in the Fiscal Year 2021-23 budget, passed on Thursday, June 24. The City’s 2019-21 budget allocated $635,278,301 million for police spending; this total accounts for midcycle budget amendments made in 2020-21, whereas prior released numbers did not reflect these amendments. Oakland’s new 2021-23 budget allocates $673,819,639 million for police spending, a $38,541,338 million (+6%) increase from the last budget cycle in the City’s General Purpose Fund.