With amendments, Council moves closer to adopting final budget

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Over two days of deliberation, Portland City Council voted Thursday on a series of amendments to the budget for the fiscal year 2026-27, moving closer to a final vote on formal adoption.

Facing a record shortfall of $170 million, the council deliberated an overall budget of $8.5 billion with significant cuts to city programs, including homeless shelters, parks, and police support staff.

The Council considered nearly 30 amendments, on topics ranging from police overtime to public bathrooms. Most of the amendments failed, many of them deadlocked on 6-6 tie votes. (To pass, an amendment needs support from at least seven of the 12 councilors.)

The amendments that passed include:

• Zimmerman 7: "Preserving Shelter and Preparing for Severe Weather." Redirects $1.4 million to continue operating the City Team Grand Shelter and additional shelter beds for severe weather. The City would not take over management of the River District Navigation Center from the County.
• Koyama Lane 9: "Montavilla Park Picnic Shelter Funding Source Revision." Changes the funding source for rebuilding a picnic shelter in Montavilla Park.
• Kanal 8: "Reduce 911 Response Times by Restoring 1 Telecommunicator." Adds back a 911 call-taker.
• Pirtle-Guiney 12: "Realign Portland Clean Energy Funds from the Public Environment Management Office to the Portland Bureau of Transportation and Bureau of Environmental Services." Shifts $5.4 million in PCEF funding towards PBOT and BES and away from PEMO.
• Green 7: "Update to Green 4 Budget Note on Span of Control." Updates a directive on how the city administrator should reduce payroll of managers by 20%.
• Koyama Lane 10: "Contracting." Requests information from the city administrator on how much the city spends on external contractors.
• Koyama Lane 11a: "Utility rate setting." Requests information from the city administrator on water utility rates.
• Avalos 10: "Protecting Workers from Future Healthcare Cuts." Directs the budget office to factor in an annual increase of 15% in healthcare costs for City employees.

Councilors ran short of time to consider additional amendments, even after extending the discussion by 30 minutes. This led to a series of procedural votes to extend the time for discussion. These votes deadlocked 6-6, however, so the session was adjourned without considering some amendments.

The Council is scheduled to vote on final adoption June 17.

Read the amendments

(This list may not include some amendments that were filed later in the process.)

Watch the council discussion (June 10)

Watch the council discussion (June 11)

Amendment votes

Read the amendments

(This list may not include some amendments that were filed later in the process.)

Changes to workforce

Budget analysts are still working to tally the cumulative impact of the amendments on the City's workforce. According to the most recent estimate from the budget office, 99 City workers will be laid off if the budget is adopted in its current form. (Some 140 positions are being discontinued, but 41 of them are currently vacant.)

Financial crunch

Portland faced a record shortfall in the general fund that swelled to $170 this year. Releasing his proposed budget, Mayor Keith Wilson said the City must "span farther, carry more weight, and bridge a deeper chasm than we have previously demanded of city government."

The deficit stems from years of lagging revenues, rising costs, and mounting pressures shared by governments across the state and region, leaving the City with fewer financial partners than in previous years.

The city's balance sheet faces several structural issues that together have produced a slow-moving budget crisis. President Trump's 2025 tax act, known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, altered the way the federal government calculates business tax. This change alone strips the city of an expected $33 million in revenue over two years. It is also choking off millions of dollars of tax revenue for Multnomah County and the State of Oregon.

At the same time, the rise of remote work has sapped demand for office space, depressing downtown real estate values and reducing income from property taxes, while inflation keeps pushing the City's expenses higher.

How the budget process works

The City's multi-billion-dollar budget runs from July 1 to June 30. Budget development for the next fiscal year begins every fall.

Each year, the City begins by asking two simple questions: How much money will we have, and how should we use it? The budget office starts by estimating how much the City expects to receive and how much it will spend.

The Mayor proposes a budget that balances revenues and expenditures and reflects the Mayor's vision for services and programs that will best support Portlanders.

City Council reviews and amends the Mayor's proposed budget to reflect their priorities. Once Council approves a preliminary budget, they can make additional amendments before adopting a final budget in late June.

Learn about the budget process.