Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Portland Permitting and Development warns deep staffing cuts in mayor’s budget would slow permitting, inspections
Summary
Interim PPD director David Koonhausen told the Homelessness and Housing Committee that proposed cuts in the mayor’s budget would reduce staffing by dozens of positions, weaken enforcement and eliminate programs including the Empowered Communities and environmental soils programs.
Portland Permitting and Development told the Homelessness and Housing Committee on May 13 that the mayor’s proposed budget would sharply reduce bureau staffing, extend permit review timelines and eliminate several programs if enacted.
David Koonhausen, interim director of PPD, said the bureau faces a projected $14 million funding gap driven by a prolonged decline in permit valuation and that PPD has drawn reserves to maintain services. He said PPD’s fee structure ties nearly all ongoing funding to project valuation — “98% of PPD’s ongoing funding comes from fees and charges for services with only 2% coming from the general fund,” Koonhausen said — and that shifts to lower-valuation, higher-volume work have reduced revenue while keeping workload steady.
Koonhausen said the mayor’s proposed budget includes reductions that would eliminate 12 vacant FTE and 53 filled positions (a portion to be achieved through attrition and…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
