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Portland council adopts budget calendar, adds daytime meeting to finish process
Summary
The City Council voted to approve a red-lined fiscal-year 2025–26 budget calendar and a one-time change to a daytime meeting on May 21 to complete budget work. Councilors pressed for more community engagement and line‑item budget detail before the mayor’s executive proposal.
The Portland City Council on March 5 approved an amended budget calendar for fiscal year 2025–26 and a companion schedule that moves one meeting from evening to daytime to allow more time to finalize the budget.
Councilors voted to adopt the calendar after a presentation from Councilor Zimmerman, chair of the finance committee, who said the red‑lined schedule adds extra work sessions and district listening sessions because the city faces an unusually compressed transition year for budgeting under the new form of government.
The measure lays out committee work sessions, community district listening sessions, and multiple opportunities for committee and full‑council deliberations through the June 30 fiscal‑year end. The council also approved an ordinance to change the meeting time on May 21 so the body could complete final budget action during daytime hours; staff said the change was limited to that date and would revert afterward.
Why it matters: The council is working under a tighter-than‑normal timeline. Members said extra meetings will be needed to evaluate the mayor’s proposed budget, to weigh proposed cuts and add‑back packages and to incorporate public input. Councilors repeatedly urged executive branch staff for more granular budget detail — line items and Excel spreadsheets — so committees can assess cut scenarios and trade‑offs.
Council debate focused on three issues: how much community engagement will be built into the calendar, what information bureaus will provide before the mayor’s executive budget, and how committees should standardize budget hearings. Councilor Murillo and others asked that committee meetings be designated venues for public comment on specific bureau budgets in addition to district listening sessions. Councilor Clark requested standardized guidance for policy committees on how to conduct budget review for bureaus.
City administration response: City Administrator Michael Jordan said the February 28 “preliminary” packet was intended to give council an early directional picture and that staff will work with council leadership to provide more detailed materials — ideally the page‑12‑style breakdowns the council repeatedly requested — to make April sessions and the pre‑mayor work productive. Finance and the president’s office said they would produce a one‑page guidance document and a calendar of service‑area presentations to distribute to councilors the following week.
Public comment: No members of the public spoke on the calendar items at the March 5 meeting.
Votes at a glance: The council adopted the FY2025–26 budget calendar (Item 5) and the schedule for council meetings to implement it (Item 6). Both measures passed on the council floor with unanimous support recorded (tally: yes 12, no 0).
What’s next: City staff said the district listening sessions are being scheduled for the weeks of March 17 and March 31 (with the week of PPS spring break excluded) and will be open to the public regardless of district of residence. Council leadership also said additional guidance for committees and a budget analyst to support councilors during the season were in process.
