Facing drastic cuts, Oakland approves budget that bets on Coliseum sale

OAKLAND — To patch up a financial crisis likened by some officials to the Great Recession, Oakland’s leaders on Tuesday approved budget changes that will avoid drastic cuts but also rely on the still-pending sale of the city’s most valuable real estate property.

The heavily contested, 5-3 decision by the City Council resolves, for now, a massive $177 million revenue shortfall plaguing Oakland in the second year of its $4.2 billion budget cycle — a crisis that Mayor Sheng Thao was keen to resolve without layoffs.