Portland staff say fall "technical adjustment ordinance" will shrink one-time funds; propose contingency to cover gap

Portland City Council on Oct. 22 heard a staff preview of the fall Technical Adjustment Ordinance — known as the TAO — that the city uses each year to “true up” the adopted budget to audited 2024–25 results. Budget Director Ruth Levine told councilors the supplemental ordinance “authorizes, and adjusts budgets for the current fiscal year. It cannot adjust any prior or future fiscal years.”

The TAO is intended mainly as a technical clean-up, Levine said, but staff told the council that revenues and spending patterns for 2024–25 left less one-time resource than in prior years. The most immediate effect is a shortfall between the city’s adjusted beginning fund balance and the adjustments required by encumbrances, transfers and other technical items: staff calculated about a $16.6 million gap in the general fund after making the listed adjustments.

Why it matters: the TAO ordinarily provides modest, one-time resources the mayor and council can use during the next fiscal year. With revenues weaker than forecast and carryover spending still in place from last year, the city is looking at tighter one-time capacity heading into the 2026–27 budget process.

What staff presented

- Purpose: Levine said the TAO’s primary purpose is to align the adopted 2025–26 beginning fund balances to the audited ending fund balances from 2024–25. She described the TAO as primarily technical:…