Multnomah County chair releases FY2026 executive budget, prioritizes homelessness, health and public safety amid cuts

Chair Veil Peterson, Multnomah County Board of Commissioners, released the FY2026 Chair’s Executive Budget at the board’s April 24 meeting and described priorities and program-level changes as the county faces a constrained fiscal picture.

“This budget makes the best use of the dollars we have to serve our community’s essential needs,” Chair Veil Peterson said, outlining three overarching themes: health and safety for all; support for people in the most vulnerable situations; and upholding county values while planning for prosperity. The chair said the budget prioritizes direct services for people who are homeless, have disabilities, or lack access to care while trimming administrative costs.

Peterson told the board the proposal requires “tens of millions of dollars in cuts” compared with last year’s budget and said the county is required to make reductions. The chair said reductions include administrative streamlining, staff reductions and pause or elimination of some programs; she specifically listed the public campaign finance program, county enforcement of the City of Portland’s gas-powered leaf blower ordinance, the Nurse-Family Partnership program and the county passport/photo ID program as discontinued or paused in the proposed budget.

Budget director Christian Elkin said the proposed budget document and department materials are available online at www.multco.us/budget and outlined a public schedule of three work sessions and a May 8 board action to approve the budget for transmission to the Tax Supervising and Conservation Commission. Elkin said a public Tableau dashboard will be released midweek next week.

The proposed numbers described by the chair and budget office include: a $292,200,000 allocation for health services available through county clinics and public health programs; $131,000,000 proposed for substance use prevention, harm reduction, treatment and recovery in collaboration with more than 100 community partners; and a reprioritization of $28,900,000 in general fund to help fill a gap caused by lost supportive housing revenue. Peterson said the budget preserves shelter capacity and permanent housing units for people currently housed in county programs, and described funding to support 832 shelter beds, add 49 family shelter beds and keep 230 congregant shelter beds open.

The chair said the county will eliminate 102 full-time equivalent positions systemwide, focusing on reducing vacant positions where possible. She said the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office budget is preserved; the Department of Community Justice took a 3% cut. The proposal shifts 11 positions that had been funded one-time in FY25 into ongoing funding for the district attorney’s office, increasing that office’s base by $2,200,000, and continues $1,700,000 to sustain 12 human resources positions in the sheriff’s office that support hiring and retention.

Public testimony during the meeting focused heavily on the proposed reductions. Noel Silhan, an ONA nurse who identified herself as a communicable disease team member, told the board the health department’s communicable disease program would face a “60% cut” under the proposed reductions and urged the board to reconsider cuts that would leave the county less able to respond quickly to outbreaks such as measles, pertussis and shigella.

Amanda Bowman Mejia, a districtwide school social worker at Centennial School District, and Dean Salazar, a community advocate, urged the board to preserve the school-based mental health therapists serving multiple districts, saying the positions are often the only timely, culturally competent access point for Spanish-speaking students and families. Several speakers also urged the county not to reduce funding for services used by LGBTQ+ youth.

Commissioners used the release to outline their review priorities. Commissioner Megan Moyer said she will prioritize preserving direct services for the county’s most vulnerable residents. Commissioner Shannon Singleton said she will focus on programs with the highest positive impact on BIPOC, LGBTQIA2S+, people with disabilities and other equity-priority communities, and on preserving programs that leverage federal or state funds. Commissioner Grama Edwards said she would focus on homelessness, mental health and economic opportunity for East Portland residents. Commissioner Johnson emphasized youth violence prevention, infrastructure and economic development for East Multnomah County.

The chair and budget director directed staff to proceed with the public engagement steps outlined in the budget schedule. Christian Elkin said the board will vote on the budget and transmit it to the Tax Supervising and Conservation Commission on May 8; after that action, major funds cannot be increased by more than 10% and property tax estimates cannot be changed under Oregon budget law.

Peterson closed by thanking staff, community budget advisory committees and more than 4,000 respondents to the chair’s annual budget survey. The board will consider departmental presentations and hold public hearings during a seven-week review period leading to final adoption.