Council Approves City Budget
May 16, 2018
This afternoon, Council approved the City Budget for the 2018-19 fiscal year. In June, City Council will formally adopt the budget. Nick’s full statement during the vote is below:
Thank you, Mayor.
I’m pleased to support this budget.
It balances the many urgent needs facing Portland, while also positioning us for the future.
There are a few items I’m especially proud of:
• For the first time ever, our utility bureaus will be able to help cost-burdened renters. We're also approving a handful of other new tools and expanding eligibility for more struggling families.
• This budget includes $3 million new dollars for housing placement services, $2 million of which we're investing in supportive housing, moving us closer to our goal of 2,000 new units by 2027. Supportive housing is a proven, cost-effective way to help many of the people sleeping outside move into a stable home.
• We're funding a new position at Prosper Portland to help turn brownfields – land that has contaminated soil or water – into community assets. This small investment will deliver a huge return to our community.
• And we not only continued our support for small businesses in East Portland, but we also made those funds permanent. Venture Portland, which runs the highly successful Catalytic Investment Initiative, will use our modest investment to leverage big wins for small business owners in underserved parts of town.
Colleagues, every budget presents its own challenges, and I want to thank you and your teams for working collaboratively – this is a good budget, and it reflects many of our shared values.
I want to thank the community members who served on the Budget Advisory Committee and all the people who shared their input with us.
Finally, our budget process is showing its age. I look forward to working with my Council colleagues, staff, and the community over the next year to reform and improve the way we engage the public and make tough budget choices.
I also want to thank my team, headed by Sonia Schmanski, for their work in getting to this point.
Aye.