Bend MPO budget committee recommends FY27 budget, directs review of state highway fund allocation

The Bend Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) budget committee on March 17 recommended the draft fiscal year 2027 budget to the MPO policy board but asked staff to return with options for changing how state highway fund (SHF) discretionary dollars are allocated.

The committee voted by voice after a lengthy discussion about the MPO’s funding priorities and reserves. The FY27 work-program tasks presented included $192,200 for MPO program and management, $72,100 for short-range planning, and $361,800 for long-range planning and modeling — a combined task total of $866,900. Staff also said the MPO has been building reserves; “At the end of fiscal 27, our reserve balance is projected to be $373,000,” Tori Mo, senior budget and financial planning analyst, said.

Why it matters: committee members raised that while street preservation has historically received a large share of discretionary SHF dollars, community demand also exists for more transit service and safety projects. Ariel Mendes, city councilor and chair of the MPO policy board, said the MPO provides “an opportunity for us to think in a crossjurisdictional way,” and urged the committee to evaluate whether the current allocation best serves regional access and safety goals.

Funding context and risk: staff explained the MPO’s two primary revenue sources are FHWA planning funds and state highway funds, with additional Federal Transit Administration grants and occasional discretionary grants. Andrea Napoli, senior planner, described a recent change in ODOT’s match contribution: ODOT reduced its historical match on FHWA planning funds to 50% for the coming year and staff warned that match support could fall further in future cycles without a legislative remedy. That uncertainty led the committee to discuss contingency planning; staff said the MPO has set aside reserves to cover potential shortfalls.

Discussion and next steps: much of the meeting focused on whether to continue allocating roughly 40% of SHF discretionary dollars to the City of Bend’s street preservation program or to reallocate part of that funding to transit and safety projects. Members asked staff and the city pavement analyst to return with scenario analyses showing fiscal and service tradeoffs (for example, what reducing street preservation to 20% would free up for transit or safety). Bob Townsen, Cascades East Transit director, provided a planning figure during the discussion, saying roughly “300 to 400k” could cover a year of transit service for a neighborhood, depending on service type.

Action taken: Caroline moved approval of the proposed FY27 MPO budget and the committee approved the recommendation to the policy board with an explicit direction to revisit the SHF allocation at a future meeting. The committee also instructed staff to ensure the public comment period and agenda timing enable the policy board to consider any changes prior to adoption.

The policy board will receive the committee’s recommendation; staff said they will return with funding scenarios and options for the MPO’s SHF allocation ahead of the board’s adoption meeting, likely after additional public comment and the next round of technical briefings.