County Sends Data Dump on Homeless Services to Governor

Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson delivered spending data from the Joint Office of Homeless Services to Gov. Tina Kotek and Metro Council President Lynn Peterson on March 14, complying with a request the pair made after Vega Pederson held a press conference last month to disclose a surprisingly large $104 million deficit at the agency.

The shortfall prompted a strong response from Peterson, in particular, who called it “shocking.” (Peterson has skin in the game because most of the JOHS’s budget comes from Metro’s supportive housing services tax.)

Among other things, the county’s spreadsheets show how much one-time funding the JOHS spent to meet its needs in two and a half fiscal years (data for FY 2025 is through January). One-time funding is contentious because the county’s own budget contains a preamble that calls it “hard to resist,” especially during tough times, and using it “inevitably produces shortfalls and crises.”

WW examined the county’s reliance on one-time funding in a story earlier this month.

The data dump, though delivered on time, may not go far in repairing relations between the county and Metro because of one line in Vega Pederson’s cover letter that accompanied the data.

“While we have had several conversations with the governor and legislators about our budget gap and strategies for addressing it, we have yet to have that conversation with Metro and would like that to happen as soon as possible,” Vega Pederson wrote, describing a March 13 budget meeting that county staff held with the city of Portland and state officials.

County staff didn’t include Metro in that meeting, Metro spokesman Nick Christensen said.

“They didn’t invite us to meet with them in the governor’s office last week,” Christensen said. “Metro staff and county staff have been working to address [supportive housing services] performance, goals and needed actions since the chair’s Feb. 21 press conference. We look forward to continuing conversations as we work toward a solution that will keep vital services that people’s lives are depending on intact—while addressing the broader reforms that are needed to make this program deliver.”