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Three unlikely allies are linking arms to defend the Portland Clean Energy Fund, the city’s climate tax on large retailers, from city councilors who are exploring ways to alter it in an effort to fill the city’s budget deficit.
The Portland Metro Chamber, the city’s chamber of commerce; APANO, a nonprofit that focuses on the Asian American and Pacific Islander community; and the climate justice nonprofit Verde sent a joint letter Monday afternoon to city leaders, urging them to leave the Portland Clean Energy Fund intact—both from a proposed tax increase, and from being raided to backfill the city’s budget hole.
“While we deeply value many of the city’s vital programs and core services, the revenue generated by the PCEF tax is legally and ethically bound to its original purpose, and cannot be altered in any way without a vote of the people,” the three organizations wrote. “It was approved by voters for a specific goal: to fund clean energy and climate resilience initiatives, especially in frontline communities. Diverting these funds undermines the integrity of the democratic process and the community trust that made PCEF possible.”
The three organizations don’t often fall on the same side of political issues in Portland. The Metro Chamber represents business interests that have historically bankrolled campaigns for more centrist political candidates, while APANO and Verde have historically aligned with more left-leaning city leaders.
But in this particular instance, both the nonprofits and the Metro Chamber have reasons for protecting PCEF.
The threats they’re trying to protect against come from two different places.
APANO and Verde, two nonprofits that have received money from the PCEF tax for climate resiliency projects, have an interest in ensuring that the tax revenues are used for their original purpose: funding jobs for people of color to build projects that buffer the city against the effects of climate change.
Councilor Eric Zimmerman of District 4 has been vocal about his desire to tap PCEF reserves to fill the city’s budget holes in the upcoming fiscal year. (The previous City Council authorized $580 million over the next five years for climate-related projects within city bureaus. While the nonprofits came around to the idea eventually, many expressed hesitation about the city’s liberal interpretation of the 2018 ballot measure’s intent.)
The Metro Chamber has a different concern: a recent proposal by Councilor Steve Novick of District 3 to raise the tax from 1% to 1.333% and use the additional funding to plug the city’s general fund deficit. Novick’s co-supporters are fellow District 3 Councilor Angelita Morillo and District 1 Councilor Jamie Dunphy.
That means both the Metro Chamber and the two nonprofits have a mutual interest in protecting PCEF from those eyeballing it for different uses.
“We want to be crystal clear—any changes to the structure or use of PCEF revenue must be brought back to the voters through a new ballot measure, just as it was originally established,” the three organizations wrote. “We recognize the city faces difficult budgetary decisions and we support creative, equitable strategies to meet those challenges. However, changing a voter-approved funding mechanism through council action—especially one intended to serve historically marginalized communities—is not an acceptable solution."
The signatories wrote that they represent “both the founders and the funders” of the tax.
“Through this partnership,” they wrote, “we come together to protect and defend the will of voters.”