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Prosper Portland outlines draft $129M budget, $50M strategic investment fund and community‑led TIF plans
Summary
Prosper Portland told the Finance Committee it expects a draft operating budget of about $129 million ($164 million including the housing set‑aside), described a $50 million Strategic Investment Fund formed from expiring TIF assets, and said a 10% general‑fund reduction would scale back some small‑business and district supports.
Prosper Portland officials presented their draft budget, program priorities and how tax‑increment financing (TIF) resources will be managed as the agency moves into a period when several districts are sunsetting and new action plans are launched.
"My name is Shay Fleurty Betheen. I'm the interim executive director at Prosper Portland," the interim executive director told the Finance Committee, describing the agency’s governance, major business lines and the role of TIF in funding redevelopment and affordable‑housing set‑asides.
Prosper explained its February draft recommended budget totals about $129 million, and about $164 million when the Portland Housing Bureau affordable‑housing set‑aside is included. Prosper’s leadership said TIF remains the agency’s largest funding source for development and capital investments while general fund, cannabis revenue and other sources support citywide economic‑development programs.
Tony Barnes, Prosper’s chief financial officer, summarized the budget calendar: City Council (acting as Prosper’s budget committee) will review the budget in May; the Tax Supervising and Conservation Commission (TSCC) will review and certify the budget; the Prosper Board will adopt the final budget in June.
Prosper described a Strategic Investment Fund (SIF) formed from residual assets of expiring TIF districts and other resources. Shay and Barnes said the SIF is roughly $50 million; about $10 million is programmed for fiscal 2025–26 and the fund was used to make roughly $8.5 million in loans in the prior year. The SIF allows Prosper to make citywide lending and capital interventions beyond active TIF district boundaries.
Staff gave an overview of TIF categories: terminated (closed) districts, sunsetting districts (bonds paid off and revenues no longer collected but funds still available) and active districts collecting increment. They said roughly $113 million of funds remain across sunsetting and active districts, split between neighborhood and Central City districts; roughly $51 million resides in neighborhoods and about $43 million in Central City active/sunsetting districts, with $15 million shown as transferred from River District to new Central City districts to support property management for assets such as Union Station.
Prosper described its process for community‑led action plans and community leadership committees (CLCs). The agency said the new East Portland CLC applications were opened and will be due May 26; all six new TIF action plans will return to council for approval within the coming year. Prosper said the action plans emphasize stabilization first—small‑business grants, neighborhood stabilization and home‑stabilization strategies—before larger capital projects.
Staff also explained program impacts from the mayor’s recommended 10% general‑fund reduction to Prosper: the recommendation would reduce or eliminate Venture Portland funding and shift some resources into internal capacity; it would reduce workforce‑development participants and trim staffing capacity. Prosper said one‑time repair/restore grants (about $1.2 million in the current year, largely expiring ARPA and one‑time general‑fund dollars) are not included in the recommended budget; the program historically dispersed funds to small businesses and had been used after disasters and demonstrations.
On events and film: staff said much of the apparent cut reflected expiration of one‑time funds; a reduction will affect small community‑event grants and scale‑up programs and reduce staffing, though navigation and permitting functions for film and events will continue at smaller scale.
Prosper highlighted outcomes tied to past TIF investments: roughly 45–47% of the city’s affordable housing produced in the past two decades has included TIF funding, with about 5,600 units cited. Prosper also said that for each dollar of city TIF spending, private investment averaged roughly $15 in the districts evaluated by a recent third‑party study.
Council members asked for clarity on several items: how the SIF was capitalized (sale of property assets and repayment streams from loans in terminated districts), the mechanics of transferring returning TIF resources into general‑fund allocations, how CLC members will be oriented and staffed to evaluate anti‑displacement strategies, and the timeline for action plans. Prosper staff said they are building orientation and technical support for CLCs, plan to include non‑voting seats for city and county partners, and will return action plans to council for approval.
No votes were taken. Committee members asked Prosper to provide additional details on the SIF, the $113M active/sunsetting TIF balance split, the $1.2M repair/restore history and outcomes, and the staffing and training plan for CLCs ahead of action‑plan approval later this year.
What’s next: Prosper’s recommended budget will be included in the mayor’s proposed city budget next week and returned to council as part of the formal budget process. Prosper staff said they will provide follow‑up memos answering specific data requests raised by councilors during the session.
