Berkeley Locks In 150 Job Cuts to Close a $29.2 Million Gap — and Bets a Tax Vote Saves 33 More

The City of Berkeley adopted its FY2027-FY2028 budget on June 23, 2026, closing a General Fund structural deficit the city's own numbers put at $29.2 million for FY2027 and $29.5 million for FY2028.▸ The gap is not new — Berkeley has run a structural General Fund deficit since before the pandemic — but this budget closes it mostly by shrinking the workforce that runs the city. Citywide, all-funds staffing falls from 1,769.17 positions adopted for FY2026 to 1,604.84 proposed for FY2027, a drop of 164.33 positions, or 9.29%, in a single budget cycle, per the same adopted-budget packet. Inside the General Fund specifically, the number that matters is smaller but sharper: 150 positions eliminated, locked in regardless of what happens in November — and 33 more riding on a ballot measure that hasn't been voted on yet.

Berkeley's Proposed FY2027-FY2028 Biennial Budget and the June 23 Adopted Budget packet both publish a department-by-department "Reduction in Force" list — every classification eliminated, and whether the seat was filled or vacant.▸ Add the FY2026 freeze (45 positions held vacant and unfunded, now formally eliminated) to the FY2027-2028 reductions, and the citywide total reaches 183 positions since 2026. Thirty-three of those, concentrated in Police and Fire, are being preserved for now using one-time money rather than cut immediately — which leaves 150 positions eliminated with no contingency attached. Health, Housing & Community Services absorbs the single largest cut, 51 positions, more than Police (31, net of what's preserved) and Public Works (17) combined.

Of the 150, only 20 are positions someone is currently working in — the city's own baseline table separates "filled" from "vacant" for exactly this reason.▸ The other 130 are budget lines with nobody behind them: positions frozen since FY2026, plus vacancies the FY2027-2028 plan formally erases rather than ever filling. If the November tax measure fails, that math gets worse — the 33 preserved positions convert to cuts, 18 of which are currently filled, pushing real layoffs from 20 to 38 people.

The 33 preserved positions aren't free — the city is paying to hold them open with money it can only spend once.▸ The Proposed Budget's "One Time Resources" table draws $4.2 million from the City's operating reserve and $7.9 million from the dissolution of Berkeley's former redevelopment Successor Agency — a one-time transfer, not a recurring revenue source — for $12.1 million total. Most of it, $9.4 million, exists for one purpose: keep the 33 positions funded until voters decide the outcome of a proposed 0.5-point increase to the City's sales and use tax on the November 2026 ballot. the Berkeley City Council approved referring a 0.5-point sales and use tax increase to the November 2026 ballot, after a January 2026 community survey found majority voter support for it. It would raise Berkeley's combined sales tax rate from the 10.25% Alameda County rate California law currently sets for Berkeley to 10.75% — matching Oakland and most of Alameda County, among the highest rates in the Bay Area.

If the tax passes, the $9.4 million in one-time money becomes a bridge to recurring revenue — the 33 positions convert to ongoing funding under the new tax.▸ If it fails, the one-time money runs out and the city is back to the 138-position reduction plan it already has on file — including the closure of Fire Station 4, a $3.6 million, 9-FTE cut the current budget avoids only because the positions are, for now, preserved.

The workforce cuts are supposed to fix a structural problem, not just defer it — but the deficit itself has barely moved.▸ Berkeley's own budget narrative put the FY2026 mid-year shortfall at roughly $29 million; two budget cycles later, the adopted FY2027 figure is $29.2 million and the FY2028 figure is $29.5 million, both higher than where the city started. Rising pension contributions, health and dental costs, and workers' compensation rates — cited in both the Proposed Budget and the Adopted Budget packet as drivers — are outrunning the savings from 150 eliminated positions.

Figures are drawn from the City of Berkeley's Proposed (May 19, 2026) and Adopted (June 23, 2026) FY2027-FY2028 Biennial Budget documents; "net positions eliminated" excludes the 33 positions currently preserved pending the outcome of the November 2026 Sales and Use Tax measure, and "filled" vs. "vacant" status is as reported by the City as of April 6, 2026 and may shift before layoffs, if any, take effect.