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Finance committee narrows 2026 work plan: PSTEP expansion, fee reviews, school facility study and training
Summary
Councilors directed staff to study options to expand the PSTEP tax‑relief program, evaluate new fees (including cruise ship and surface parking), and ask the schools to assess repurposing the central office; they also discussed models for council training funding and preparing targeted state legislative proposals.
The Portland City Council Finance Committee used part of its meeting to convert council goal‑setting outcomes into a preliminary work plan for 2026, identifying affordability and revenue diversification as top priorities and directing staff to return with costings and options. Chair April Fournier led the discussion, which covered expanding the PSTEP tax‑relief program, fee reviews (cruise ships and open‑air parking), potential reuse of the school central office building and options for council training budgets.
Several councilors volunteered next steps. Councilor Pelletier asked staff to explore PSTEP expansion as a tool to raise mill rate capacity while cushioning residents who could not afford higher taxes. "I will just advocate for the expansion of PSTEP," he said. Councilor Grant urged staff to cost out proposals so conversations are grounded in dollars rather than concept: "I think this would be an appropriate place for staff to come in ... so that we can talk about it in dollar amounts and not just concepts."
On schools, Grant suggested sending a formal letter to the school department asking for a financial and operational assessment of the central office building to determine whether repurposing (for a day shelter or adult‑education space) is feasible; he proposed a committee role in shepherding an MOU if the schools decide to pursue changes.
The committee also asked legal staff to assess whether the city can apply fees to private surface parking operations and to report back on options for a local fee structure. Mayor raised the topic of council training funding and suggested the committee evaluate models (reimbursement, subsidy, deliverable‑driven support) to ensure training returns measurable benefits.
Several members discussed preparing targeted legislative proposals for the 2027 session, with Councilor Grant urging the committee to develop a short list of high‑impact asks (for example, local option hotel tax authority) to present to the state delegation. City Manager Daniel West and staff said the legislative committee and city staff routinely run this process and that joint meetings with legislative staff could align work.
Next steps: staff will prepare a summary document and cost estimates for PSTEP expansion, fee assessments, and a possible school central office review; the committee will consider a joint meeting with the legislative committee to refine state legislative asks for the next session. No formal policy changes were adopted at the meeting.
