Inside Mayor Wheeler’s final Portland budget

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — This is the week Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler’s last annual budget gets put to the test.

While COVID relief funding is going away, the Portland city budget sits around $1 billion more than in 2023. In this budget Wheeler takes a big swing at public safety as some bureaus, fully funding Portland Fire, Portland Police and Emergency Communications.

But the Portland Clean Energy Fund could be the saving grace, filling gaps that COVID money left.

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The proposed budget for the new fiscal year is $8.2 billion. The reason the budget is larger this year is because sewer and water rates increased.

The Portland City Council can only change 10% of that in the general fund, which sits at nearly $772 million.

More than $7 million of permanent funding is slated for Portland Street Response for the first time. It was previously funded by grant money. Wheeler moved PSR from the fire bureau to a new office, the Public Safety Deputy City Administrator, after Commissioner Rene Gonzalez — who oversees the fire bureau — wanted it moved.

But the Friends of Portland Street Response said it’s not enough. In a statement, the group said: “This proposed funding level is below the amount budgeted last year and far below the amount needed to expand Portland Street Respond to 24/7 citywide coverage.”

The mayor said he fully funds the police bureau — but actually does much more than that.

Three years ago, PPB’s budget was about $230 million. This year, the police bureau asked for $287 million — and Wheeler proposes $295 million. The extra $8 million is a desire to proactively add money to the bureau’s overtime budget.

“The city-wide Portland Insights Survey clearly identified public safety as a top priority for Portland,” Wheeler said. “That should be no surprise to any of us. My budget funds, fully funds, public safety bureaus and public safety programs.”

Larger cuts are mostly saved because of funding from the Portland Clean Energy Fund surcharge that will generate $600 million over the next 5 years.

Commissioner Carmen Rubio noted the Portland Clean Energy Fund “was able to step in and fund climate work across the entire city enterprise. The result: Immediate budget relief for the city’s General Fund, ratepayers and backfill losses in other funds.”

While the budget notes the Portland Bureau of Transportation’s $40 million funding deficit will grow, Commissioner Mingus Mapps — who oversees PBOT — said he is “especially proud of the work we’ve done to significantly reduce the PBOT funding gap. I appreciate the mayor’s recognition of this critical work in his proposed budget.”

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“We’ve continued to keep public safety front and center. We’ve continued our outreach to those struggling on our streets, and we’ve continued to uplift our small businesses, our large businesses and community events,” Wheeler said.

KOIN 6 News reached out for comment from commissioners Gonzalez and Dan Ryan but has not yet heard back.

The City Council will provide their thoughts on the budget Tuesday, with a public hearing scheduled for Wednesday.

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