“Tough choices” is public officials’ shorthand for this year’s budget cycle. In Portland’s Community and Economic Development service area, the mayor and his administrators have turned to cutting social programs and staff to balance a proposed $1.24 billion budget for the service area’s bureaus.
This service area—which could see a 7 percent budget cut this year—focuses on economic and urban development via housing through Prosper Portland, Portland Permitting and Development (PP&D), and the Portland Housing Bureau (PHB); climate through the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability (BPS) and Portland Clean Energy Fund (PCEF); arts and culture, and entertainment venues through the Office of Community and Economic Development. It also administers the Portland Children’s Levy.
For each of those areas, community programs, workforce development, affordable housing, climate initiatives, and staff are all on the chopping block, while funding for business façades or advertisements to draw in tourism remain intact. The mayor’s draft budget is a values statement in a year marked by a nearly $163 million general fund budget gap. Downtown marketing and aid for small businesses are prioritized over particular climate and urban forestry programs.
In Wilson’s proposed budget, PP&D said it would need to reduce tree permitting services to address the gap. That would lead to the loss of 14 full-time employee positions.
While the Housing Bureau has recently faced scrutiny for maintaining more than $106 million in unbudgeted funds, which ballooned to $145 million earlier this year. Much of that money is restricted, and in early April, City Council allocated $56 million of those funds toward rent assistance, eviction protection, and $9 million toward filling the general fund gap. Oversight hearings began last week to track down why the money was not disclosed to the Council before a budget adjustment last year.
Despite the perception that it has extra money, the Housing Bureau could take a 10 percent cut if Wilson’s proposal stays intact. That would eliminate two vacant data analyst positions, which the bureau says would impact recent programs approved by City Council like the social housing study, or the Unified Housing Strategy. It could also impact a study of the city’s Inclusionary Housing program at a time in which affordable housing development is much needed.
Prosper Portland could slash workforce development program
Prosper Portland also expects to reduce services and staff. In a budget discussion with City Council April 21, its director of economic development, Andrew Fitzpatrick, said Wilson’s proposed $1.1 million staff budget reduction would lead to the loss of five positions, and could result in the reduction of 700-900 workforce development program participants. It could also reduce technical support for 175 small businesses, Fitzpatrick said. In its own proposed budget, released April 20, a total of 13 funded positions will be cut, nine of which are filled.
Prosper Portland spokesperson Shawn Uhlman said while the agency does have a contingency fund of $5.7 million, those funds are not available to cover program or staffing needs. Instead, those funds are used to cover initial costs on collaborative projects between the city and Prosper, which the city later reimburses.
But the proposed budget isn’t all doom and gloom for Prosper. Wilson added $1 million in funding to support storefront initiatives, which Fitzpatrick said will help 22 small businesses with new leases and reactivate vacant retail spaces.
Business investment is a central piece of Wilson’s proposed budget. Despite pending layoffs and program cuts, Deputy City Administrator Donnie Oliveira’s office proposes giving $200,000 to the Portland Metro Chamber and the nonprofit it runs, Downtown Clean & Safe. The funding would support business marketing to drive foot traffic downtown through the “Visit Downtown Campaign,” which would track its success by media placements, website and ad data, social media followers, and pedestrian counts.
Still, the Office of Arts and Culture will likely take a 10 percent cut, and will reduce event sponsorships while cutting roughly 50 small grants to individual artists. That office took an extra cut due to office restructuring during the last budget cycle, but other than its 10 percent cut it will now maintain its previous resources to account for the prior year.
Climate, technology, and planning programs are also on the chopping block in Wilson’s proposal, though some areas could see small boosts. Here’s what that might look like, if Wilson’s spending plan stays intact:
- 10 percent cut to the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability, which could eliminate support for a host of climate programs
- $1.26 million to BPS for four new Portland Clean Energy Program support staff
- Elimination of two of five district planning positions
- Elimination of the Home Energy Score program, which requires home sellers to disclose an overall energy efficiency score of their property when selling it
- Loss of professional and technical support for the Renewable Fuel Standard, meant to reduce the city’s dependence on fossil fuels
- It will also pull back membership dues for peer city networks and organizations, like Carbon Neutral Cities Alliance, Urban Sustainability, Directors Network, Northwest Energy Coalition, Zero Energy Ready Oregon, Oregon Solar + Storage Industries Association, and the Community Energy Project.
Still, Wilson proposes allocating nearly $1 million in one-time resources for the city’s graffiti abatement program. Those contracts with private abatements businesses help clean up some 565,000 square feet of graffiti annually. Whether that allocation will stay intact through the final budget adoption remains to be seen. Previously, councilors, including District 4 Councilor Mitch Green, indicated they find little to no return on investment in graffiti abatement services, given how quickly graffiti returns after it’s been removed.