A thorough summary of the city’s widening budget deficit and initial measures to reduce it, including hundreds of possible job losses and significant cuts to several agencies and programs, were provided by Portland authorities on Friday.
According to recently released budget documents, the city faces a combined shortfall of more than $150 million between cuts to other essential municipal services like transportation, permitting, and water and sewers, and its general fund, which primarily supports police, fire, parks, and homeless services.
According to records, City Administrator Michael Jordan, who is in charge of Portland’s enormous bureaucracy under its new system of government, made a preliminary set of suggestions on how to reduce the estimated $93 million general budget imbalance by $35.4 million.
He also proposed possible cuts outside the general fund totaling an extra $65 million. According to city officials, the general fund and non-general fund amounts overlapped by an estimated $7 million.
Overall, the budget recommendations call for cutting back on everything from road maintenance to emergency preparedness initiatives to community center and sports facility hours, as well as around 275 jobs throughout the city.
Jordan informed reporters during a news briefing at the Portland Building that there aren’t really any good options. Finding the funds to balance the budget is the key.
The city administrator emphasized that his recommendations were meant to be a springboard for additional deliberation among Portland’s public and elected officials in the upcoming weeks and months.
Early in May, Mayor Keith Wilson is expected to provide a budget proposal for the upcoming fiscal year.
Jordan stated that Wilson and the City Council might think about cutting up to $35.7 million from police, fire, and 911 operations in an effort to balance the budget, but he did not suggest any changes to public safety.
“We simply didn’t recommend them because we’re fairly certain that, on the whole, most Portlanders want to maintain public safety,” he added.
One of Jordan’s suggestions is to eliminate $22.1 million in spending at the Transportation Bureau by laying off almost 100 employees and lowering funding for safety upgrades, pothole repairs, and routine road upkeep.
He proposed removing one of the city’s eleven community centers, cutting funding to community partners, and doing away with summer programming for kids in order to make up for a $23 million deficit in parks.
The city’s Permitting & Development Bureau would have to cut expenses by $16.7 million to match revenue, according to budget papers.
Council President Elana Pirtle-Guiney told The Oregonian/OregonLive on Friday, “We must ensure that every cut we make—and there will undoubtedly be many painful ones—sets us up to be a stronger city going forward.”
In addition, Pirtle-Guiney expressed a modicum of optimism when she reported that the city’s anticipated general fund deficit had decreased from over $100 million in mid-January to $93 million.
She said, “We’re in a slightly better position.” It won’t get us very far with this budget. However, it indicates that Portland is headed in the right path.
Wilson’s $28 million shelter expansion proposal, which he claims is necessary to significantly reduce the number of people sleeping on the streets, a series of recent union contract negotiations, and increases in health insurance rates for employees are some of the factors that have contributed to the city’s significant general fund deficit this year.
Additionally, Portland is expected to lose almost $40 million in federal pandemic assistance as well as other one-time cash streams that have supported measures ranging from garbage and graffiti cleanup to gun violence prevention programs to homeless camp sweeps in recent years.
Inflation, increased material costs, and declining property tax revenue all contribute to the city’s dire financial situation.
This year, Portland’s budget was approximately $8.2 billion, of which $732 million came from discretionary general sources. The police and fire departments, Portland Parks & Recreation, and the homeless services agency jointly operated by Portland and Multnomah County get around 70% of the city’s general fund budget.
Councilor Steve Novick, who co-chairs the City Council’s public safety committee, stated that while no one wants to cut any of those items, the math is inevitable. Those services are in jeopardy unless we increase taxes.
— Shane Dixon Kavanaugh focuses on accountability and watchdog reporting while covering politics and city administration in Portland.
His number is 503-294-7632.
Get in touch with [email protected].
On BlueSky@shanedkavanaugh, follow X@shanedkavanaugh.
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