Portland council advances budget work, moves $2.1 million from tree regulation to parks maintenance and narrows citywide EMS cuts

Portland City Council continued several budget hearings and approved a set of technical and policy changes at a June 10 meeting as it moves toward adopting the city's fiscal 2025-26 budget.

Councilors voted to: continue the state shared-revenue hearing (items 2-4) to a later reading; send an interfund-loan ordinance addressing a Fire and Police Disability and Retirement (FPDR) cash-flow mismatch to a future reading; approve a council carryover package opening attachments A through H for amendment; reallocate $2,100,000 of parks-levy funding away from the urban forestry tree-regulation program into parks maintenance; transfer administration of the tree-regulation program from Portland Parks & Recreation's Urban Forestry to the Portland Permitting and Development Bureau (PP&D) no later than Oct. 1; and adopt a narrower citywide 2% reduction in external materials-and-services (EMS) spending with specific public-safety exemptions.

Why it matters: The votes shift scarce discretionary dollars and program oversight while the council continues technical hearings (state shared revenue, the tax levy ordinance and an interfund loan for FPDR). The decisions will affect parks maintenance, how the city enforces its tree code, and near-term contracting and service budgets across multiple bureaus.

What the council did

- Continued state shared-revenue hearings and related items: Council closed the public hearing on the state shared-revenue items for now and continued the matter for further action when the budget is revisited later in the month. The council noted the state program distributes funds from cigarette, liquor and cannabis taxes under ORS 221.77 and that Portland's proposed share for 2025-26 is roughly $21 million (the budget language shown at the hearing cited the anticipated distribution).

- Tax levy and FPDR interfund loan: The council opened debate on the tax levy ordinance (agenda item 6) and received public testimony; the item was continued to a later reading. Councilors discussed agenda item 7, an ordinance authorizing a temporary interfund loan from the Portland Parks and Recreation System Development Charge Fund to the Fire and Police Disability and Retirement Fund (FPDR) to address a cash-flow gap between the start of the fiscal year and FPDR's tax receipts in the fall; staff said the loan is the cheapest way to bridge that timing gap, avoiding short-term external borrowing.

- Carryover package (attachments A-H): Council approved a motion to open and adopt the technical carryovers (attachments A through H) that allow council to consider the amendments filed against them. The motion to open the carryovers passed (11 yes, 1 no).

- Tree regulation and parks maintenance (Zimmerman): Councilor Carmen Zimmerman's revised package (filed during the meeting) reallocated $2.1 million of parks-levy funding from the Urban Forestry Division's tree-regulation program to the parks maintenance program to preserve maintenance funded by the levy and to align levy use with voter expectations. Councilors voted to move that funding (the motion passed 8 yes, 4 no). The council separately approved moving the tree-regulation program's administration and staff to PP&D and set an effective date no later than Oct. 1 (the motion passed 8 yes, 4 no).

- EMS reductions and targeted restorations (Green 9, amended): Councilor Carmen Green led an amendment that would reduce external materials-and-services spending citywide by roughly 2% and redirect the savings to a set of priorities including arts, parks programming and program capacity. After negotiation on the dais and exemptions inserted during debate (the final motion removed the package's proposed reductions to police, fire, PBEM, the Office of Community-Based Public Safety Accountability and related public-safety lines), the amended motion passed on a 7-5 vote. The final amendment contained a budget note directing the city administrator to prioritize cuts to contracts and consulting (not to frontline safety or legally required services) and to report back to council on the chosen reductions on a regular cadence.

Public testimony and themes

More than 100 people testified during the hearing; testimony clustered around three recurring themes:

- Public safety vs. parks: Local business owners, residents and neighborhood representatives urged restoration of police funding, saying overtime and staffing cuts undermine response and deter investment. Other speakers — including park users, young people involved in park programs, and community groups — urged funding for parks maintenance and youth programs, arguing that parks upkeep, programming and recreation are core public-safety investments.

- Urban forestry / tree code: Residents, arborists and environmental advocates pressed council to preserve the city's urban canopy and cautioned that reducing tree-staffing or weakening enforcement could have long-term environmental, health and equity costs. Supporters of Zimmerman's reallocation said voters expect levy funds to support visible recreation and maintenance; supporters of the urban forestry program warned cuts would lengthen permitting timelines and reverse progress on canopy goals.

- New and one-time programs: Speakers asked council to fund arts ($450,000 requested for Portland Center Stage in one-time funding), community-based services such as a driver resource center (rideshare drivers asked for a portion of a new TNC fee to create a resource center), and restoration of ranger dispatch/park services. Labor representatives from AFSCME and other unions described the operational impacts of cuts to permitting, environmental services and shelter support.

Quotes from the record

- "I am requesting that we are given the proper funding for public safety to PPB so they can better serve our communities and businesses," said Loretta Guzman, owner of Bison Coffee House (public testimony).

- "This is clearly a power grab," Michelle Miller, a parent and public-safety advocate, said of a proposal to shift PPB overtime into a council-controlled contingency; she urged council to reject reductions that would constrain overtime.

- "Mature trees are not easily replaced," ISA-certified arborist Giles Gardner said during public testimony, urging council to preserve urban forestry permitting and regulation staff.

Council discussion vs. decisions

Councilors repeatedly framed the choices as trade-offs: whether to protect parks maintenance funded by an expected levy, preserve urban forestry enforcement and permitting, or shield public-safety budgets from new reductions. Several councilors said they welcomed clearer line-item transparency in EMS spending and asked the administration to identify specific contracts or consulting arrangements that could be reduced without cutting services.

Votes at a glance (selected items)

- Carryover package (Attachments A-H): Approved (vote to open and accept amendments later) — recorded result: 11 yes, 1 no. - Zimmerman amendment (reallocate $2.1M parks levy from tree regulation to parks maintenance): Approved 8-4. - Zimmerman amendment (move tree-regulation program administration to PP&D; effective no later than Oct. 1): Approved 8-4. - Green 9 (2% citywide EMS reductions with specified exemptions and a council-directed budget note): Approved 7-5 (amended on the dais to exempt several public-safety lines and to include reporting requirements). - State shared revenue hearing (items 2-4): Continued for later action; council closed hearing for now and will revisit with the budget. - Tax levy ordinance (agenda item 6): Continued to a later reading (date to be scheduled); public testimony received. - Interfund loan ordinance (agenda item 7) – FPDR/Parks SDC: Sent to reading (continued) so council can vote on it at the next reading.

What the actions mean next

- Administration and bureaus will implement the council's direction in concert with the city budget office. The EMS cuts are implemented via a budget note that directs the city administrator to prioritize reductions to consulting and contracts where those cuts do not reduce core services; bureaus are required to report back to council on the reductions and any operational impacts.

- The transfer of the tree-regulation program to PP&D is to be implemented administratively no later than Oct. 1; the council also signaled intent that the parks levy be explicitly used for maintenance and recreation programs that voters expect.

- The FPDR interfund loan ordinance will return for a formal reading and vote; staff explained the loan bridges a predictable cash-flow timing mismatch between the start of the fiscal year and property tax receipts that fund FPDR benefits.

Next steps and timelines

The council recessed and will reconvene for the continuation of budget work beginning tomorrow at 09:30, with the expectation of finishing additional amendment votes, final readings and the budget adoption schedule in the coming days. Several items remain on the docket for formal readings and votes, including the tax levy ordinance, adoption of the budget ordinance and the FPDR interfund loan.

Reporting note: This article summarizes council action and public testimony from the June 10 Portland City Council meeting and uses direct quotes and vote tallies as recorded in the meeting transcript.