“We’re in a position right now, where people are going to end up being unhoused for the long-term, and we have to take action,” City Councilor Angelita Morillo said, explaining a proposal to divert funds from homeless encampment removal to bolster housing and food assistance.

If passed, a new budget amendment Morillo proposed November 7 would remove over $4.3 million from the city program that sweeps homeless Portlanders.

Morillo submitted the proposal in advance of the Fall Technical Adjustment Ordinance (TAO), an annual process to tweak the city’s budget for that fiscal year. The city’s $8.6 billion budget went into effect July 1, which allocated $16.7 million toward the Impact Reduction Program (IRP).

“Across the country, and especially in Portland, we’re seeing a lot of people suffer under really intense financial constraints,” Morillo told the Mercury. “When we saw that the federal government is trying to cut further services by pitting SNAP benefits and food benefits against health care, we knew that we had to take some action locally.”

Instead of using scarce local resources to sweep homeless Portlanders into congregate shelters, Morillo’s amendment proposes reallocating $1.5 million in community grants toward housing, food assistance, and immigrant and refugee support. It also adds $500,000 toward public safety infrastructure in East Portland.

The city is on the hook to fund the IRP with a minimum of $3 million through the 2027-28 fiscal year. That’s due to a 2022 lawsuit brought by nine Portlanders with disabilities who said the city violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by not removing homeless encampments from public rights of way. 

The lawsuit ended in a five-year settlement agreement through June 2028. The legal challenge has been at the center of city policy around sweeping homeless Portlanders who have had few options but to live on the city’s sidewalks. The settlement required the city to maintain a reporting system for encampments,  and prioritize sweeps of sites that obstruct sidewalks.

If the City Council passes Morillo’s amendment, the IRP will maintain at least a $10 million budget this year.

The amendment proposal comes as Mayor Keith Wilson resumed enforcement of the city’s rules governing when, where, and how homeless residents can be in public spaces. The city had paused enforcement earlier in the year to allow time to increase its shelter capacity, a major piece of Wilson’s campaign promise to end unsheltered homelessness by December 1.

The city says it is focused on connecting people to shelter and services. Data released on November 6 shows that in the first five days, police went to 57 encampments, and contacted 101 people. Enforcement teams found 81 people in violation of the rules and issued seven citations. They also handed out 83 warnings and arrested 40 people, though no one was arrested simply for violating the ordinance. According to the city, 39 people accepted an offer for shelter.

“I'm proud of the job our outreach workers and officers have done," Wilson said in a press release about the data. “We're leading with compassion and lifesaving shelter, and focusing on the safety, sanitation, and accessibility of our public spaces. Pursuing open warrants is an important part of this strategy. For some, it's an opportunity to resolve the issues keeping them on the streets, while others must be held accountable for preying on our community.”

According to the city code, people cannot use survival materials on public property when a “reasonable shelter” is available. Homeless residents cannot obstruct the public right-of-way, use a gas heater or set a fire, or set up an encampment on property marked as “no trespassing.” The ordinance also prohibits people from assembling or selling multiple bikes or cars, and restricts them from storing belongings more than two feet outside of a tent.

Wilson has opened 1,090 new shelter beds toward his 1,500-bed goal since January. The progress is notable, but that number is well short of the nearly 7,500 unsheltered Multnomah County residents, largely concentrated in the city of Portland. What’s more, under Wilson, the city has also aggressively swept homeless encampments since taking office, outpacing previous Mayor Ted Wheeler. The IRP swept 655 homeless encampments in August, 650 in September, and 706 in October, according to city data.

Morillo acknowledged Portlanders’ concerns about homeless encampments in neighborhoods across the city, but said sweeping people does not solve a growing challenge.

“There’s nowhere for people to go, so you’re actually just moving the problem from place to place instead of addressing why people are unhoused in the first place,” Morillo said. “On top of that, sweeps cost millions and millions of dollars annually. So, we are wasting a lot of our resources for these short-term solutions.”

City Councilor Mitch Green said he supports the amendment, which he said helps address issues he raised prior to the city’s renewed enforcement. As the Trump administration has called for increased sweeps against the nation’s homeless residents, Green said Portland should not align with those efforts.

“It is a bad, cruel, and failed policy when the Trump administration does it, and it is a bad, cruel, and failed policy when the city of Portland does it.” Green said in an October 30 statement.

Morillo said she is responding to conversations with community organizations who work with homeless Portlanders every day. Lauren Armony, the voices for housing justice training manager at Welcome Home Coalition, said sweeping homeless people from place to place sets them back in their efforts to get into housing, and leaves the broader community less safe. She said people lose medications, cell phones, and shelter during sweeps, leaving them with less opportunity for success.

“It’s extremely meaningful to actually have councilors that agree that it’s dehumanizing to continue to displace and steal from homeless people,” Armony said.

It isn’t the first time Morillo has proposed a policy to change the IRP budget. In June, she introduced an amendment, which failed, seeking to decrease the program’s budget by $428,000 and reallocate the funds toward rental assistance and eviction legal defense.

The amendment also seeks to reduce the Prosper Portland budget by $3.25 million to cover costs associated with a recent legal settlement; and safeguard money the city expects bureaus to request next year for cost of living adjustments, health care, and other benefits.

City Council will take up all TAO amendments and a vote in the November 12 regular meeting.