Multnomah County’s nearly $4B budget proposal focuses on homelessness, fentanyl

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – In a 3-2 vote, Multnomah County commissioners have advanced a $3.96 billion budget proposal for the 2024-2025 fiscal year — focusing on homeless services, the fentanyl crisis and supporting voter-approved election changes.

Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson said her budget aims to address “interwoven crises,” by increasing funds for homeless services, and funding a substance abuse recovery package along with auto and retail theft task forces with the City of Portland.

“My budget addresses some of our greatest community and workforce challenges, but it also draws on our greatest strengths: our employees, our partnerships and our shared efforts to meet these challenges,’’ Chair Vega Pederson said.

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The county chair said one of her top priorities is addressing unsheltered homelessness by connecting people to housing navigation and health services.

Her budget proposal includes a 24% increase in homeless services funding for a total of $285 million for housing placements, rent assistance, and support services.

The budget will also support the Homeless Response Action Plan, introduced by the chair and Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler in March, which aims to house or shelter 2,700 people by Dec. 31, 2025.

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Vega Pederson additionally proposed $12 million to improve shelter bed access by moving people from shelters and into housing and proposes nearly $4 million to increase shelter beds during weather emergencies.

“As a baseline, we’re not letting a single shelter bed close and are focusing efforts on a strong, geographically diverse shelter system to meet people where they are,” Vega Pederson said during the board meeting.

The chair’s budget proposal also aims to address the fentanyl and substance abuse crisis in the county, proposing a $29 million substance abuse treatment package, along with $5.5 million for harm reduction programs and $2.1 million in public health approaches to address the surge in fentanyl overdoses.

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This includes $800,000 to add a full harm reduction team to the Health Department, over $400,000 for youth prevention services, and $425,000 for more Naloxone distribution and training.

The county also highlighted budget proposals for the Elections Division after Portland voters approved charter reform, transitioning to a rank-choice voting system. The budget includes nearly $900,000 for voter outreach and supervising the transition to the new voting system.

The budget comes as the county faces a $14 million deficit, which officials blamed on inflation, fluctuating property values, uncertainty around Behavioral Health Resource Center costs, and a gap in public safety funding.

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Because of the deficit, Vega Pederson asked Multnomah County departments to cut their budgets by 3%.

“There are hard choices and tough tradeoffs here. I started this budget process with a $14 million deficit, but I believe it reflects compromises that mirrors our values and priorities,” Vega Pederson said during the meeting.

Budget approval changes

After commissioners approved a resolution with the proposed budget — which now heads to the Tax Supervising and Conservation Commission — commissioners agreed to consider a different budget process for next year’s budget cycle.

Commissioners debated whether to separate votes to submit budget proposals from votes approving budgets to head to the tax commission.

Since 1999, the county considered “approval” a technical step, unlike formal votes to “adopt” a budget after public hearings and work sessions.

Commissioners Jesse Beason, Lori Stegmann, and Chair Jessica Vega Pederson voted to move ahead with the current budget process while commissioners Julia Brim-Edwards and Sharon Meieran voted against – stating they want more time to review budget proposals before presenting them. During the board meeting, Commissioner Brim-Edwards noted they received the printed budget proposal the day before the meeting.

Over the next six weeks, there will be work sessions and public discussion over the budget proposal leading to the vote to approve a final budget on June 6, 2024.

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