Oakland councilmembers find $8M in excess funds to save fire stations, hint there's more money

OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) -- Oakland city councilmembers announced that the city does have money to save the seven fire stations they were projecting to close amid a $129 million budget deficit.

It's a shocking discovery for a city facing a multi-million dollar budget deficit. Millions of dollars of excess funds were found after Oakland city officials made deep cuts to services including closing multiple fire stations.

"We've had fires where it took fire engines 20 minutes to get there. We've had CPR calls where the closest firehouses were not even near close enough to make a difference," said Capt. Seth Olyer, president of the Oakland Firefighters Local 55.

On Thursday, three Oakland councilmembers announced a proposal to use this newly-discovered money and reopen closed fire stations and prevent the closure of four others.

RELATED: Oakland faces major cuts across all city departments amid historic $129 million budget deficit

Luz Pena: "How much money was your team able to find and where is this money coming from?"
Councilmember Janani Ramachandran: "It's approximately $8 million - I say that because there are some cents that have to move around. And it's coming from a number of places but the biggest source of funding coming from is the Coliseum JPA, which basically the Oakland Arena - they have seen an uptick of sales."

The Oakland Coliseum fund is about $2.6 million. The rest of the money is coming from the city's self-insurance liability fund and Measure BB - a local transportation sales tax fund, but how did this happen? We questioned the city's new finance committee chair.

"I'm not blaming one administration. This is a few years in my opinion poor fiscal decisions," said Janani Ramachandran, Oakland city councilmember.

RELATED: 2 Oakland fire stations closing to help balance city's $129 million budget deficit

Seth Olyer, president of the Oakland Firefighters Local 55 union, has been urging for the city to find solutions.

Pena: "Does it concern you that the first type of approach was to close fire stations instead of actually looking for these funds to begin with?"
Seth Olyer: "Hundred-percent and that is something we have been saying all along."

This is not a done deal. At least five city councilmembers have to vote yes to use these funds to reopen these fire station and prevent future closures on March 4. The next question: is there money to prevent other cuts?

MORE: Neighbors share frustrations as Oakland Fire Department station closures go in effect Monday

This happening as about 100 city workers received layoff noticed last week.

"We will also work hard to identify any money we can to prevent any many layoffs as possible," said Zac Unger, Oakland city councilmember.

These findings could be just the tip of the iceberg.

Pena: "Is there more money that could potentially be there that people in Oakland don't even know exist?"
Ramachandran: "I believe so. The more digging we do the more we can find, and it's never an easy answer."