PORTLAND, Ore.– On June 18, 2025 Portland City Council put its final stamp of approval on a $8.6 billion budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1. This was one of the first official acts of the newly elected council under Mayor Keith Wilson.
Facing a funding gap of roughly $150 million, the council adopted a budget focused on delivering key services, curbing homelessness, supporting public safety, and keeping parks and community centers open.
Families and business groups filled Terry Shrunk Park at one point sharing concerns about obtaining enough money to keep parks and community centers functioning and still having police funded to keep streets and neighborhoods safe. This was a double-edged sword on many levels. $2 million was at stake.
Portland Police Union President, Sgt. Aaron Schmautz weighed in on discussion on June 12, 2025
Budget highlights include:
- A significant investment in Portland Street Response, which helps people in crisis, adding 14 positions and expanding its operating hours.
- Adding 10 firefighters to Portland Fire & Rescue.
- Authorizing Mayor Keith Wilson’s plan to open 1,500 overnight shelter beds and four day centers at a total cost of $24.9 million. (The funding for those projects comes from outside sources, including the State of Oregon and Metro.)
- Increase fees on rideshare services like Uber and Lyft from 65 cents to $2 per ride, generating $10 million to support the Portland Bureau of Transportation.
- Increasing fees on short-term rentals, city-owned golf courses and downtown parking.
The final budget adopted today authorizes spending $8,638,585,121 in the coming year.
This is the first budget enacted under Portland’s new form of government, which took shape in January with a 12-person council, a mayor, and a city administrator.
“I’m proud of we’ve achieved,” Wilson said after the vote. “We have a balanced, pragmatic budget that reflects our priorities and avoids the outcomes we were most concerned about.”
“This was never going to be an easy budget,” Council President Elana Pirtle-Guiney said. “A cuts budget necessarily leads to layoffs. This is a bit of a somber vote for me, because this vote finalizes job cuts for many of our city employees.”
“Throughout this process, we’ve learned a lot,” she continued. “I want to commend wholeheartedly the commitment of my fellow Councilors to finalizing a budget we can believe in. In a deficit year, that is no easy feat. Despite the painful choices we have made, I am hopeful that the new budget will keep us strong as we move into the remaining half of this Council’s first year in office and build towards Portland’s future.”
Amendments
Over lengthy budget sessions, councilors considered scores of amendments and discussed issues ranging from home-sharing to public safety to police oversight to workforce development.
Over the past few weeks, the council approved significant amendments, such as:
- Redirecting $2 million from the Portland Police Bureau to support parks maintenance.
- Redirecting $2.1 million from the city’s tree regulation program to support parks maintenance and moving oversight of tree regulations from Parks and Recreation into Portland Permitting & Development.
- Transferring $1 million from the Portland Police Bureau’s asset forfeiture fund to support evidence-based crime prevention and research on crime prevention strategies.
- Redirecting $1.4 million from councilors’ individual budgets to support shared council resources.
- Developing a comprehensive plan to manage the city’s infrastructure.
- Directing the city attorney to analyze the legal implications of having U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities in sanctuary cities.
Positions
The budget creates some positions and discontinues others. (City staff are still tallying the exact number of positions impacted.) According to the most recent estimates, the net reduction to the city’s overall workforce is approximately 50 positions. Before the reductions, the city’s workforce (not including seasonal workers like lifeguards) is 6,990 strong.
Resources
The final budget will be posted at: https://www.portland.gov/budget/2025-2026-budget/development/adopted
*** information gathered from City of Portland Official Website***
***Additional writing by ReynoldsPSC.com***