Will there be a cool $49 million extra to play with next year, as was the case for this year's budget? Mayor Charlie Hales says no. Not even close.
The mayor issued his first guidance [pdf] on Thursday for how city bureaus should go about planning for next fiscal year (July 2016 - June 2016). The gist of Hales' directive? The Portland Housing Bureau is sitting pretty, the rest of Portland's departments should brainstorm on how to trim by 5 percent.
"This will allow me to determine if there are budget realignments that should be made," Hales writes.
Not that it'll necessarily come to those trims. The City Budget Office isn't divulging much about its outlook for next year, but Hales says the city should expect a chunk of one-time cash—money that won't magically repopulate in city coffers year after year. Maybe some ongoing money, too.
And Hales is making clear he wants to focus those new resources on housing and stemming gun violence in Portland.
"The City’s fiscal condition is good," Hales writes. "However, in FY 2016-17 we may need to make some difficult budget decisions in order to ensure that resources are available to address the most pressing issues that our city is facing."
Of chief concern in next year's budget, obviously, is $20 million the mayor has pledged to put toward a plan to slash homelessness in the city. Hales, in his memo, says he wants to put as much money as possible toward homelessness and housing—and notes that City Council recently agreed that the Housing Bureau will get $10 million more next year. But the mayor also appears to be leaning heavily on one-time money to help these crises.
As we reported in this week's issue, the housing crisis will need years of recurring investments to see meaningful progress.
