The Milwaukie Budget Committee voted November 10 to recommend a mid‑biennium budget adjustment to the full council that would allow the city to begin recruiting seven positions (eight full‑time equivalent roles) before the FY26 budget adoption.

City Manager Emma Savore told the committee the organizational assessment identified gaps that create service risk if staffing waits until the next biennium. “I am concerned that if I don't fill these now, I actually will start seeing some service impacts,” Savore said.

Positions listed in the request that would be funded by the newly adopted public safety fee include a behavioral health specialist, two patrol officers, a library assistant and a deputy court clerk. Savore told the committee the public safety fee is estimated to generate about $866,000 per year, which staff say is sufficient to support those hires. Additional public‑works positions — an admin specialist for CIP engineering, a natural‑resources technician and a water utility technician — would be funded by deferred or rescoped capital and transfers from utility funds.

Savore described operational impacts motivating the request: overtime and comp‑time usage is high in police, water and stormwater operations; filling positions is expected to reduce overtime costs over time. She noted hiring patrol officers may take months because of background checks and academy time, and that payroll staff modeled ‘fully‑loaded’ costs to budget conservatively.

Council members pressed staff on details: one councilor asked which statute sets a minimum patrol staffing level; Savore said staff would follow up with Chief Burdick and legal counsel. Councilors also asked for transparent accounting so residents can see that public safety fee dollars are used as intended; Savore said the fee will flow into the general fund this biennium but staff will provide dollar‑in/dollar‑out reporting and can explore creating a separate fund for visibility.

If the committee’s recommendation stands, staff will bring a resolution to the City Council on November 18 seeking authorization to recruit immediately, with priority hires starting as soon as funding and recruiting allow.

The committee moved and seconded a recommendation to support the budget adjustment and the chair announced the recommendation carried unanimously.