'Hard decisions': Portland city administrator unveils proposed budget amid $93 million shortfall

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Portland's city administrator has unveiled the proposed budget for fiscal 2025-26 amid a $93 million budget shortfall.

It's a situation City Administrator Michael Jordan said doesn't leave many "good choices" in terms of where to make cuts.

Even still, the $93 million budget deficit is less than the $100 shortfall originally predicted last month. However, the Portland City Council and Mayor Keith Wilson are now tasked with closing that gap to the city's general fund.

"We are going to have to make hard decisions within those bureaus. Public safety is one of those, as is housing, as is parks. These are critical things that foreign leaders rely on, that nobody wants to pay against eachother," said Portland Council President Elana Pirtle-Guiney.

Jordan's proposal includes slashing $17 million across public agencies but not touching money for the fire department, police, 911 and elected officials. and shifting $19 million in interest from the Portland Clean Energy Community Benefits Fund (PCEF). 

Combined, those recommendations would drive the general fund deficit down by roughly $35 million, resulting in nearly 300 positions cut across the board, which alone still wouldn’t cover the shortfall.

"To be fair, there's still a $57 million gap," Jordan said during a press conference.

Other suggestions include cutting $22 million from the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) for repairs and improvements and slashing Portland Parks and Recreation’s budget by $23 million by reducing community center hours and eliminating summer programs.

Another outstanding issue is overtime for emergency responders, as KOIN 6 News Reporter Joelle Jones covered last week. The Portland Police Bureau spent more than $21 million on overtime last year and the Portland Fire Bureau spent more than $24 million. Those two figures combined are just shy of covering the remaining shortfall. City officials and agencies have credited the overtime costs to lack of staffing.

The excessive overtime is an issue Pirtle-Guiney said the city must get under control.

"The reality is, doing that requires us to have folks in those positions working straight times so that we don't rely on overtime hours," she said. "So that we're not relying on overtime, which is by far more expensive than having folks doing the job during their regular hours, and frankly, not the safest way to approach that work either."

As it stands, the budget draft proposal "would keep bureau staffing levels stagnant" while also suggesting reducing overtime spending "to the tune of 15,000 hours."

KOIN 6 asked Jordan how the overtime hours would be cut if staffing levels were not increased to accommodate it.

"I think we have a model to follow to get ourselves out of this, but I will tell you, on the short term, it's an expensive shift," Jordan said.

For the Portland Police Bureau, though staffing levels would remain the same, the proposed budget recommends the addition of $8 million. However, this is a reduction compared to the $9.3 million originally submitted by PPB.

In a statement, Mayor Wilson said he will be sharing a finalized version of the proposed budget in the next few weeks following Friday's draft proposal:

“In the coming weeks, I will be proposing, sharing, discussing, and negotiating a final budget alongside our City Council and Executive Leadership with input from the community. Together, we have a responsibility to faithfully explore every opportunity and reduction scenario and make decisions that reflect Portland’s values and prioritize the issues we were elected to address.

"I encourage the public to make their voices and priorities heard in upcoming listening sessions and by reaching out to their City Council representatives. As we undertake this challenging and important work, I will be guided by the issues I was elected to address—ending unsheltered homelessness, restoring public safety, promoting green leadership, and reviving our local economy—while ensuring the voices of Portlanders are included in this process.”

View the entire City of Portland proposed budget for FY 2025-26 below: