By Taxpayers Association of Oregon Foundation,
As Portland City Council plans to figure out its $100 million Budget Crisis, it has asked Portland Police and Fire to provide a 5% and 8% budget cut while hiring more staffers to increase the city council budget. Portland Mayor Keith Wilson defends the city council’s increased budget of four million dollars by hiring four new staffers for each member of the 12-member Council for the next six months.
As cuts have to be made to the Portland city budget, one of the significant areas of concern is the potential cuts to emergency service, with city officials asking Portland Police to identify the impact of a potential 5% reduction of $12.8 million and 8% reduction of $20.5 million, Portland fire is consider the impact of same percentage cut with a 5% cut resulting in $7.9 million and 8% of $12.6 million outlined in a public memo from the city.
While asking for emergency services to provide impact reports of potential cuts to their funding, more funding has been provided to the city council and the mayor’s office by hiring new temporary staff members to address the current crises. Mayor Wilson responded to KOIN 6 question about the additional staff members while asking for cuts to emergency services.“I understand the concern there is that if a councilor has a difficult time picking up the phone or answering an email, or doing the research necessary to address the $100 million budget shortfall, that’s a that’s a crisis in and of its own, we have to have the resources to do the work that has been given to us.”
Portland must find a budget solution soon and cut its $100 million deficit as the fiscal year for Portland ends on July 1st, 2025. Will the additional $4m expenditure help the city council find the ideal budget?
