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Council presses administration for desegregated list of $132M in unspent nonfederal grants
Summary
Councillors, led by Councilor Smith, pressed the assistant city administrator and finance staff for a disaggregated accounting of roughly $132 million in unspent nonfederal grant funds; staff agreed to try to provide detailed, line-level data within about 10 days for the budget work ahead.
Portland councilors pressed the administration on a monthly City Administrator's report snapshot showing roughly $132 million in unspent non-federal grant awards, asking whether the amounts are restricted, designated, or available as general fund resources as the council prepares the mayor's budget.
Councilor (first name in transcript: Smith) said the information is urgent for budget work and cited an ordinance (passed Feb. 19) that requires the administrator to report unassigned funds within 15 days of receipt. "Can you get us the desegregated data this week? We only have, like, 10 days before we can do this budget," Smith said, asking staff to specify whether each line is restricted or available to the mayor's proposal.
Assistant City Administrator and budget staff acknowledged the snapshot currently lists non-federal grants and that, in most cases, grants are restricted to specified uses; Jonas Bury (department financial staff) said the listed balances are generally restricted to approved purposes. Staff agreed to refine the report and attempt a faster turn-around. Jonas said he would "do our absolute best to get that to council as soon as possible," and later offered to check feasibility for getting a desegregated line-level report within 10 days.
Council discussion noted that one service area, "Vibrant Communities," showed $30.1 million unspent of $35.2 million in awards and asked for an explanation of how those funds are managed if the bureau is reorganized. Councilors also pressed for clarity on whether some amounts reflect internally directed grants or intergovernmental pass-throughs and whether funds have already been baked into budget assumptions.
Why this matters: Council must know which funds are restricted or unrestricted to make accurate budget assumptions. The request is time-sensitive for upcoming budget committee work and could affect near-term allocation decisions.
What happens next: Staff committed to follow up with more granular, source-level accounting and to try to meet the council's requested timing; council members asked administration to ensure compliance with the 15-day reporting requirement for newly received unassigned funds.
