City Council passes mixed package of budget amendments; key votes on parks, public safety, housing and revenues

Portland City Council completed a marathon budget session June 11, approving a set of budget attachments and a number of individual amendments and budget notes that reshape spending priorities for the coming fiscal year. The council voted on dozens of items during the session; this roundup lists the most consequential formal actions taken on June 11 and the vote outcomes recorded in the meeting transcript.

The council approved several amendments that restore or redirect city funding for parks and emergency management, and it created a $2.2 million public-safety recruiting and capacity-building set-aside. Lawmakers also reversed or rejected several proposals that had been raised during the day, including a request to use opioid-settlement dollars for a county-led sobering center and a high-profile motion to increase direct council oversight of police overtime.

Why this matters: The votes shift money between programs in ways that affect frontline services (park rangers, 3-1-1 dispatch, emergency management), set aside funds for recruiting and capacity-building across public-safety bureaus, and leave several contested priorities — including sobering center funding and certain housing proposals — unresolved.

Key votes and outcomes (selected) - Leach Botanical Garden (Dunphy 5): Council approved a one-time transfer of $100,000 to Leach Botanical Garden to support a transition to financial independence. Vote: approved (10 yes, 2 no). - Guidance for 2% external materials & services reductions (Green 10): Council adopted direction for how a 2% reduction in external materials and services should be implemented to prioritize contract bloat and protect union jobs. Vote: approved (10 yes, 2 no). - Park/Dispatch/PBEM restoration package (Kunal / related amendments): Council approved restoring funding to cover two park service dispatchers and added funding for the Portland Bureau of Emergency Management (PBEM). Vote: approved (11 yes, 1 no). - Golf fees (Novick/Green 17 & 18): Council undid a $5 across-the-board golf surcharge and replaced it with a $1.25 million transfer from the Golf Fund while directing the golf program to design an equitable fee structure; the accompanying budget note giving guidance to the golf program was also approved. Votes: Novick/Green 17 passed (9 yes, 3 no); Novick/Green 18 budget note passed (12 yes). - Public-safety recruiting set-aside (Green 13): Council set aside $2,200,000 in general-fund contingency as a public-safety recruiting and capacity-building set-aside that PBEM (and other public-safety programs) may access with council approval. Vote: approved (11 yes, 1 no). - Overtime oversight motion (Avalos 3): A proposal to require council authorization before 75% of a $15 million police overtime budget could be spent was debated and failed. Vote: failed (4 yes, 8 no). - Sobering center (Zimmerman 16): A motion to set aside $1,200,000 of opioid-settlement funds to reserve payment to Multnomah County for a 24/7 sobering center failed. Vote: failed (4 yes, 8 no). - Home-share pilot vs. North/Northeast housing preference (Avalos 4): Council debated a $500,000 shift proposed by the mayor for a home-share pilot versus funding to preserve units in the North/Northeast housing preference program; the council rejected the transfer to the mayor’s home-share pilot and retained funds for the housing preference effort. Vote: rejected (5 yes, 7 no). - Evidence-based policing research (Murillo note): Council directed use of up to $1,000,000 from police special-revenue proceeds to support independent evaluation of policing strategies (noted that DOJ / federal rules apply to asset forfeiture funds). Vote: approved (aye/no recorded on the vote). - Miscellaneous budget notes and technical fixes: The council adopted a broad set of budget notes directing additional study or interagency work (examples: Vision Zero funding/structure, community engagement reorganization, studies of delivery-fee and vacancy-fee concepts, and other items); several were adopted by unanimous or near-unanimous votes in the late-session package.

What the votes don’t do: The council did not enact permanent policy changes for several debated items; several items passed as budget notes requesting studies or future analysis rather than immediate program changes. Several contentious items remain unresolved and will require follow-up (e.g., sobering center funding and some housing requests).

Next steps: The council approved the attachments to the budget ordinance and will proceed to finalize the ordinance in a subsequent stated meeting/second reading. Several budget notes require follow-up reporting — timelines were specified in the notes — and the bureaus named in the votes will return with implementation plans or legal/technical analyses where required.

Votes & provenance: Vote counts and motions summarized here match the meeting transcript of the Portland City Council, June 11, 2025, (evening session) when recorded by the council clerk. Where DOJs, grant rules, or intergovernmental agreements were raised during debate, the council asked bureaus to confirm applicability before any funds are spent.

Ending: The council recessed to let staff finalize balancing calculations and then returned to adopt attachments and wrap up the session; several items passed late in the evening and require follow-up reporting from the city administrator and affected bureaus.