OAKLAND — When Mayor Libby Schaaf puts together a two-year city budget, Oakland hills residents would like to see one major expense on the list: fire prevention for the vegetation that surrounds their homes.

“Reducing the risk of wildfire is the number one public priority in the Oakland hills,” said resident Gordon Piper during a March 29 public meeting at the Hiller Highlands Country Club.

The meeting is one of a series of citywide hearings Schaaf and her staff will hold to get public input on the city’s upcoming budget. A preliminary version of the two-year spending document will be published around the end of the month.

Members of the City Council, who have the final say on spending, will hold hearings during the summer with final adoption by July 1.

By law, the budget must be balanced so cuts will have to be made if spending surpasses revenues as anticipated. Over the next few months, neighborhood activists will be pressuring the mayor and council to prevent reductions in their favorite services.

Hills residents remember well the 1991 Oakland Hills Firestorm that devastated the area, killing 25 people and injuring more than 150. A total of 2,843 homes were destroyed along with 437 apartments and condominiums. Total loss was estimated at $1.5 billion.

This year’s budget priorities take on added urgency as the Wildfire Prevention Assessment District, which paid for removal of trees and other combustible vegetation, is disappearing.

In a letter circulated and signed by residents during the meeting, the group is asking for three related expenses:

– a total of $500,000 from the city’s general fund to pay for fire safety services formerly provided by the assessment district;

– a new full time vegetation inspector to ensure that public lands are maintained up to fire codes;

– a new full time employee in the City Administrator’s Office to manage the vegetation management contract; and

– one additional tree crew to add to the single crew now handling vegetation problems. The city used to have six such crews before budget cuts.

Schaaf said the city is working on getting California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection crews, possibly at no charge, to cut down fallen trees. Residents claimed the program was being held up by city bureaucracy, but Schaaf said the city was resolving the problem.

In a poll, Oaklanders ranked improving housing costs and affordability as the number one priority for city spending. For the first time, this item outranked the perennial favorite, fighting crime and violence, which came in at number two. Public education was ranked third.

Residents aren’t willing to cut existing services, except spending on local sports teams. That was music to Schaaf’s ears after her refusal to use public funds for a new Oakland Raiders stadium caused the team to seek a multimillion dollar deal for a new domed stadium in Las Vegas.

Despite the recovering economy, the city is still in struggling financially because of higher employee retirement costs, Schaaf said.

To address the problem, the city has been using one-time revenues to pay for ongoing expenses, a practice that Schaaf called “slightly irresponsible.” She added that the situation was improving.

Special funds that used to finance certain services are drying up. The Public Works Department has proposed a 45 percent cut in the number of parks maintenance workers, which Schaaf said was not realistic.

One group has proposed cutting the Police Department’s budget by 50 percent, another unrealistic proposal that conflicts with Schaaf’s plan to grow the force to 800 officers.

The mayor implied that not everyone will get exactly what they want in the upcoming budget process.

“Keep your expectations moderate for what this new budget is going to be like,” she said.

Repairing roads was another priority favored by the residents.

Oakland voters last fall approved Measure KK, a bond issue that will provide millions in funding for road repairs, public facilities and affordable housing.

Schaaf said Oaklanders will not see the impact of the bond on local road construction this year as the city issues bonds and other tasks before the money can start flowing into projects.

Tunnel Road is one area that hills residents would like to see repaired.

Approval of the bond was key because traditional sources of road construction funds are designated for larger arterial streets rather than local roads. But with local funding, some of the worst problems could be addressed beginning in 2018.

“Some of our worst roads are local roads,” she said.

While waiting for the bond money, the city can accelerate its five-year repaving plan, Schaaf said. Her goal is to repave 300 blocks of roads this year and fill 12,000 potholes.