City Council Approves $8.2 Billion Budget

Portland Clean Energy Fund revenues plugged gaping budget holes.

COLD SHOULDER: Ted Wheeler, Rene Gonzalez and Dan Ryan (L-R). (Blake Benard)
By Sophie Peel

The Portland City Council on Wednesday afternoon unanimously approved Mayor Ted Wheeler’s $8.2 billion budget for fiscal year 2024-25.

While budget shortfalls in some of the bureaus looked dire earlier this year, totaling about $70 million, revenues from the Portland Clean Energy Fund helped shore up the deficits. While some city commissioners have bristled at the notion of using PCEF funds to plug bureau budget holes, none opposed it so much that they voted against Wheeler’s proposed budget. After all, each commissioner oversees a portfolio of bureaus that were, in part, bailed out by excess PCEF funds.

While Wheeler asked bureaus earlier this year to make 5% reductions across the board for the upcoming fiscal year, he exempted public safety bureaus from that mandate, including Portland Fire & Rescue and the Portland Police Bureau. (City Commissioner Dan Ryan tried, unsuccessfully, to pass an amendment that would have added park rangers to the exemption beginning next year.)

The final vote on the budget occurs June 12, and the new fiscal year begins July 1.




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