Portland finance committee approves Mount Hood cable budget, supplemental budget, $800,000 cannabis loan and new solid-waste rates

The Portland City Council Finance Committee on Monday recommended approval of several fiscal items, including the Mount Hood Cable Regulatory Commission’s FY2025‑26 fund budget, a final supplemental budget to avoid fiscal‑year year‑end over‑expenditures, an $800,000 temporary loan to the recreational cannabis tax fund and new solid‑waste and recycling rates set to take effect July 1.

The committee voted unanimously to send the Mount Hood Cable Regulatory Commission (MHCRC) FY2025‑26 fund budget to the full council with a recommendation for passage. The commission’s FY26 budget anticipates about $4.7 million in revenues, a beginning fund balance of roughly $6.3 million and roughly $11 million in total resources; staff told the committee the budget packages operating costs, quarterly franchise disbursements, capital allocations for community media centers and about $1 million in community grants.

Why it matters: the MHCRC distributes franchise and PEG (public, educational and governmental) fees that fund two community media centers — Open Signal and Metro East Community Media — and support gavel‑to‑gavel meeting coverage, capital equipment and community media grants that produce local programming.

Andrew Spear, franchise utility program manager in the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability, and Douglas Simaralu, MHCRC finance manager, summarized the budget and said both franchise fees and PEG revenues have declined as subscriber counts have fallen. “Subscriber counts continue to decline,” Simaralu said, citing a drop from about 100,000 subscribers in 2022 to roughly 75,000 in 2024. The budget maintains a roughly $1,000,000 community grant allocation for FY26 and increases capital and operating support for Open Signal to cover expanded council and committee coverage.

Julia DeGraw, Portland’s appointed representative and chair of the commission, told the committee the MHCRC voted unanimously to recommend the FY25‑26 budget at its May 19 meeting and that Fairview and Multnomah County had already approved the same budget. “Through the fees collected from the franchise agreements, the commission provides community media centers with the operational and capital funding support that they need,” she said.

The committee also advanced the city’s final supplemental budget ordinance (the over‑expenditure ordinance, or OEO), which staff said is a narrow, technical step the city uses to ensure no fund ends the fiscal year with a negative balance. Ruth Levine, director of the City Budget Office, described the OEO as the last supplemental budget action of the year to “make some final technical adjustments and ensure that all funds end the year in balance.” She said the ordinance includes interfund loans and other adjustments so that required payments can be made before fiscal year end.

Discussion at the committee centered on one interfund loan included in the OEO package: an $800,000 temporary operating loan from the Solid Waste Management Fund to the Recreational Cannabis Tax Fund. Staff told the committee the recreational cannabis fund had a one‑time carryover allocation from prior years that, combined with post‑COVID declines in cannabis tax receipts and timing uncertainty of the final quarterly state payment, could produce a negative balance at year end without interim funding. Levine said the loan is budgeted to be repaid in the next fiscal year and characterized it as a short term fix so the city does not end the fiscal year with a negative cash balance.

“[T]he revenues ramped up fairly quickly, and there was a large amount of one‑time available funding,” Levine said of the cannabis fund’s history. Council members asked about timing, repayment and whether the pattern represented a repeated need; Levine and budget office staff said the city expects this to be the last year the loan is required as carryover spending declines.

The loan and the OEO were moved forward to the full council on emergency basis. A member of the public urged the committee to review consistent interfund loan interest terms and suggested the city consider engaging multiple credit‑rating agencies; staff accepted the comment for follow‑up.

On solid‑waste policy and rates, the committee voted 4–1 to forward an emergency ordinance that would raise residential collection rates modestly and increase the commercial tonnage fee by $1 per ton, effective July 1. Bureau of Planning and Sustainability staff said disposal costs charged by Metro transfer stations — which haulers pay and pass through to customers — and wage increases for collection drivers are the primary drivers of the rate adjustments. Staff showed an example: for a 35‑gallon residential service the proposed monthly increase is approximately $1.80–$1.95 depending on service pattern, a roughly 4.3% increase for the most common service levels.

Eben Polk, the city’s solid‑waste and recycling manager, highlighted two program additions included in the rate package: a low‑income discount tied to the Water Bureau discount program that would reduce the typical 35‑gallon monthly bill by 50% (equivalent to about $21.90 per month) and a standardized price schedule for on‑call bulky waste pickup to give customers clear, citywide upfront pricing. Staff said the initial year of the low‑income discount would be subsidized by $1.4 million in one‑time fund stabilization dollars so the rate base will not increase to cover the program during its first year.

The solid waste proposal also includes a $1 per ton increase in the commercial tonnage fee (from $16.60 to $17.60), which staff estimate will raise roughly $305,000 in the coming fiscal year. The Solid Waste Management Fund will also provide an additional one‑time $1,000,000 for the city’s impact‑reduction program (cleanup and services related to unsheltered homelessness), bringing the one‑time allocation to about $2,000,000 for the coming year.

Council discussion focused on the timing of Metro’s disposal‑fee decisions, the large increase in disposal fees in recent years relative to general inflation and the process timeline for public review. Staff acknowledged the schedule was compressed and said they will debrief the process for next year to allow more time for public review and council deliberation. The committee’s vote on the rates was 4–1, with Councilor Green, Councilor Novick, Councilor Avalos and Councilor Zimmerman voting aye and Councilor (Green recorded dissenting?) Councilor Green recorded as chair cast the deciding supportive votes; Councilor Green called out timing concerns but voted to advance the ordinance.

Votes at a glance - Motion: Approve the Mount Hood Cable Regulatory Commission FY25‑26 fund budget. Moved by Councilor Perugini, seconded by Councilor Novick. Roll call: Perugini — aye; Novick — aye; Green — aye; Avalos — aye; Zimmerman — aye. Outcome: approved; moves to full council with recommendation to pass.

- Motion: Adopt the supplemental budget for FY24‑25 (over‑expenditure ordinance). Moved by (record: Councillor Pertel Guinea), seconded by Councilor Novick. Roll call: recorded ayes. Outcome: approved; moves to full council with recommendation to pass.

- Motion: Authorize a temporary operating loan not to exceed $800,000 from the Solid Waste Management Fund to the Recreational Cannabis Tax Fund. Moved by Councilor Novick, seconded by (record: Councilor Prologini). Roll call: recorded ayes. Outcome: approved; moves to full council with recommendation to pass.

- Motion: Adopt residential solid‑waste and recycling rates and fees and raise the commercial tonnage fee effective July 1, 2025. Motion moved and seconded; roll call 4–1; outcome: approved to move to full council with recommendation to pass. (One councilor voted no on the emergency timing.)

What the council asked staff to do next: staff will bring the ordinances to full council on June 18 on an emergency basis for final adoption; the Budget Office and BPS said they will provide follow‑up detail on the cannabis loan repayment schedule, the mechanics and timing of Metro disposal fees, and debrief the rate‑setting timeline so next year’s process allows more public review time.

Public comment: Testimony included one councilor and one external speaker on the MHCRC item and one public speaker on the loan who suggested the city review credit‑rating practice, and the Portland Haulers Association urged adoption of the solid‑waste rates. Carrie Walker McCullough, vice president of the Portland Haulers Association, said haulers are committed to “providing affordable and efficient service” and asked the council to approve the rates as presented.

Next steps: Each approved item will go to the full City Council on June 18 as emergency ordinances with proposed effective dates of July 1 for the rates package and the loan as needed. Staff said routine follow‑up information on program implementation and the loan repayment will be provided to the council.