Transportation bureaus outline trade-offs and operating gaps in mayor’s proposed budget

City bureau directors and deputy administrators told the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee that the mayor’s proposed budget restores some cuts but leaves significant trade-offs requiring either new revenues or further reductions to services.

At a committee meeting focused on the mayor’s proposed transportation and infrastructure budget, Deputy City Administrator Jonas Berry, representatives from the Bureau of Environmental Services (BES), the Water Bureau and the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) detailed how the mayor’s proposal balances operating needs against a backlog of deferred maintenance.

Jonas Berry, the city’s deputy city administrator for budget, finance and chief financial officer, said the financing analysis and the asset-management strategy work will proceed in tandem and that the city is “standing ready” to develop financing strategies. Ting Lu, interim director for BES, told the committee the bureau identified $1.5 million in critical operating needs and that the mayor’s proposal restores a previously proposed $1.1 million rate reduction subject to full-council approval. Quisha Light, interim director of the Water Bureau, said the bureau eliminated 18 vacant positions to meet the balanced-budget requirement, preserved core water services and restored an 8.1% rate forecast in the mayor’s proposal. Light also described $1.9 million in annual savings from no longer covering credit- and debit-card convenience fees.

Millicent Williams, director of the Portland Bureau of Transportation, said PBOT began the budget cycle with a general transportation revenue forecast shortfall of about $38 million that the city administrator’s proposals and assumed new revenues reduced to roughly $17.8 million. The bureau’s balancing package relies on a mix of local fee changes and an assumption of state transportation funding:

- Parking meter rate increases (25% in each district) would generate roughly $5.5 million annually. - Increased hourly event parking meter rates would generate about $350,000 annually. - Extending evening parking meter hours from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. would add roughly $1 million annually. - The budget assumes $11 million in additional revenues from a prospective state transportation package (state gas taxes, heavy-vehicle use taxes and DMV fees); that proposal requires legislative approval.

Williams warned that if the state funding or other assumed revenues fail to materialize, the bureau would need further direction from council to reduce services or find other revenues. “$11,000,000 of our current balancing proposal is outside of the city’s control,” she said. The bureau also said the mayor’s budget restores funding for select livability programs, notably a phased restoration of neighborhood street sweeping funded in part by a transfer from BES; full implementation will require multi-year investments for vehicles, staff and signage.

Committee members pressed bureaus on specific service impacts and trade-offs. Councilor Koyama Lane asked how the proposed asset-management strategy differs from the city’s prior 2022 asset-management policy; Tate White, senior strategic project manager leading the strategy, said the new work will identify concrete actions, standards and resourcing so that less-mature bureaus can meet policy requirements. Councilor Green asked whether Transportation Network Company (TNC) fee revenues have restrictions; PBOT staff said state code restricts TNC fee revenues to transportation-related purposes and regulation of TNC companies, and the bureau views that as sufficient linkage to general transportation revenue.

On program specifics, staff described the mayor’s street-sweeping plan as phased: year 1 would expand the LEAF program and hire and train staff and acquire sweepers (noting one-year delivery timelines); year 2 additional investments would increase frequency to 2–3 times annually and fund enforcement; by year 3 fleet replacements would enable sweeping up to four times per year and reduce program costs. PBOT said the mayor’s proposal includes a $3.1 million contribution from BES to expand sweeping to additional streets.

Bureau staff also discussed enforcement and automated safety cameras. PBOT described the program as largely self-supporting, but limited by available staff who review footage and by court capacity; the bureau said increasing camera coverage requires additional staffing to process citations and coordination with Multnomah County Courts.

Other budget details noted to the committee included: BES identified more than 80 line-item operating reductions totaling roughly $3.5 million; Water Bureau officials cited deferred work and long-range planning delays tied to the elimination of 18 vacant positions; PBOT said many of its balancing actions rely on assumptions (state funding and fee changes) that will require council action and could re-open reduction exercises in future years.

Council members raised additional actions being considered outside the mayor’s package. Councilor Smith said the council will propose an amendment to finance to authorize limited-revenue bonds for sidewalk improvements (SIP), describing a plan to authorize $200 million and issue $100 million initially; bureau finance staff said debt-service and specific funding sources for any new debt would need to be identified and could require reductions of roughly $5 million in operating programs if no new revenues are found. Councilors and staff agreed to continue the discussion at upcoming work sessions.

The committee did not take formal votes on the mayor’s budget items at the hearing but asked bureaus to return with further detail (including per-project and per-position impacts) in follow-up presentations to the committee and council.