MULTNOMAH COUNTY, Ore. — Multnomah County chair Deborah Kafoury has released her proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year. The overall budget is $3.3 billion, up from $2.8 billion in the current fiscal year. It incorporates $88.9 million in funding from the American Rescue Plan Act.
“We know that two years of job losses and business closures have pushed thousands of people to the brink,’’ Kafoury said in a statement. “So we’re directing $22.8 million of American Rescue Plan funds to help people with their rent, and give them access to eviction prevention legal services.”
Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler released his own budget proposal for the city earlier this week, and the county budget closely mirrors several of the top priorities in the Portland budget including a focus on homelessness, housing and responding to crime and violence.
Like Portland, the county is forecasted to receive an unexpected revenue windfall from business taxes, giving officials more flexibility than in the past couple years, which have been dominated by revenue shortfalls amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a May 5 memo, Kafoury said revenues are expected to keep growing for the next several years, and the budget is therefore designed around stabilizing existing services and making new investments, including maintaining “safety net” services that were set up during COVID.
“… many of the new programs and approaches that we stood up in our race to respond to COVID-related challenges demonstrated positive, equitable outcomes, so this budget also invests in continuing those newfound lessons and practices into the future,” she wrote.
The budget includes $183.2 million into responses to housing instability, homelessness and behavioral health needs, $107.1 of which comes from the Metro Supportive Housing Services Measure and $76.1 million from local, state and federal funding.
Among the Metro Supportive Housing Services Measure funds, $27.3 million will be spent on shelter bed support, raising the total number of available beds from 2,000 to about 2,700, and $75.9 million would go to housing placements, rent assistance and support services to get people out of homelessness.
The budget also includes $15.5 million to support behavioral health services, including some of the services at the planned Behavioral Health Resource Center, which is set to open in downtown Portland in the fall.
The budget implements the Preschool for All program that voters approved in 2020, opening up the first 600 slots for kids in September. It also plans for work to begin on several library projects as part of the $387 million Multnomah County Library capital bond that voters approved in 2020.
The county commission voted Thursday to accept the proposal. Final adoption is scheduled to come on June 16 following a six-week budget process including work sessions and public hearings.
