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Portland finance committee weighs bonds, cash and capacity for sidewalk program
Summary
City finance staff told the Finance Committee the city has room to finance a portion of the Sidewalk Improvement and Pavement (SIP) program through limited-tax, self-supporting bonds (policy capacity roughly $200M for that bond flavor), but recommended a cash-first planning approach, a mix of cash and debt for scale, and a coordinated Jan–Feb workstream to produce options for the mayor and council.
City finance leaders and PBOT told the Finance Committee on Nov. 17 that Portland can pursue a bonded program for the Sidewalk Improvement and Pavement (SIP) resolution passed in May 2025, but several trade-offs will shape the size and timing of any borrowing.
"We would expect that this bond issue would be, what we call, self-supporting limited tax bonds," said Jonas Birri, the city's chief financial officer. Birri said the policy debt capacity for that debt flavor secured by general transportation revenue (GTR) is "around $200,000,000, rounded to the nearest $100,000,000," though staff…
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