Frequently Asked Questions: CBACs and the County Budget

CBAC Ordinance § 3.300 - Purpose.

The Community Budget Advisory Committee (CBAC) adds valuable insight and expertise to the development of the county budget by generating feedback on aspects of departmental budgets as identified by the County. 

Is the CBAC considered part of the public or county staff?

CBAC members, as appointed county volunteers, are public officials, but are not county staff or elected officials. 

What are departmental requested budgets? 

These are developed internally by departmental leadership, program and fiscal staff. They may contain sensitive information about job or program funding, and therefore are available to the CBACs (and others) only after they are available to the public. 

What else is in the departmental requested budget, including additional requests beyond the base budget?

The departments’ budget request materials share their requests to the County Chair, Board, and community. These are the first steps in Multnomah County’s budget process. They include: Department Director’s transmittal letter, Program Offers (Base Budget), Reduction Packages (to meet targets provided in the Chair’s budget guidance), and Add Packages (requesting funding above the base budget for “ongoing” program support or “one-time-only” funding for programs that are limited to one year or capital projects). For background, check out the FY 2027 Department Requested Budgets webpage. 

Are departmental requested budgets required to be released to the public?

There is nothing in Oregon Budget Law that requires release of final department requested budgets to the public. That is something that Multnomah County has chosen to do in the interest of transparency, and to facilitate feedback from the community as the Chair develops the Proposed budget. All of that being said, this does not prevent departments from having discussions prior to the Departments’ release of their requested budget with CBACs about the departments’ priorities, existing programs and services, and outcomes as reflected in published budgets.

When are budget materials available online?

Department budget requests are posted online in February. These are materials that convey each department’s budget request to the County Chair, Board, and community. They include the Department Director’s transmittal letter, which is a roadmap to each department’s budget requests and decision-making process that provides information on reduction and addition packages.

The Chair’s Proposed budget is posted online in April, at the same time the Board meets to receive the document under Oregon Budget Law. The Chair develops the Proposed budget by reviewing department budget requests, hosting community budget events, and meeting the County Elected Officials, partner jurisdictions, department leaders, the Community Involvement Committee, and community based partners. The Chair focuses on short- and long-term goals and objectives to produce a budget plan for the fiscal year. Because department Requested budgets contain many options, they do not add up to a balanced budget. The Proposed budget is the first document showing a balanced budget - as required by Oregon Budget Law - where the estimated resources equal the total estimated expenditures and requirements.

After the Proposed budget is released, the Board holds a series of budget work sessions to review and discuss the budget. The Budget Office posts budget work session materials as they come up. These include: slides from presentations, written responses to Board questions, amendments or budget notes offered by Commissioners, and department amendments. 

The Adopted budget is finalized and posted in early July. This is a few weeks after the Board votes on it. It takes time to put all the data into the final budget books. However, records of the Board's votes are posted on the Board Clerk’s website the same day they happen. The Adopted budget is voted on after weeks of work sessions and public hearings. The Board can request changes through budget amendments. Any amendments must maintain a balanced budget. For instance, if new spending is suggested, there also has to be an increase in revenue or a decrease in other spending. The amendments are voted on as part of the budget adoption and require a majority vote. The Board can also request budget notes, which document policy discussions and decisions during work sessions.

At each stage - Requested, Proposed, and Adopted - an online dashboard is posted. This tool shows the budget in a visual way. You can filter the information by department, program, and more. To avoid confusion, only one dashboard is live at a time. For example, when the Proposed budget is released, it will replace the Requested dashboard. The final Adopted budget dashboard stays online for the rest of the year (and beyond).

What is Oregon Budget Law designed for? 

Oregon Budget Law focuses on the “budget document,” which is prepared by the Chair. (ORS 294.331 states that the budget officer “shall prepare or supervise the preparation of the budget document” while Multnomah County Charter 6.10(6) says that the Chair “[s]hall prepare the county budget for submission to the board”). This is what we refer to as the Proposed or Executive budget. As required by Oregon Budget Law, this must be a balanced budget, where the estimated resources equal the total estimated expenditures and requirements.

Under Oregon Budget Law (ORS 294.426), the Board - acting as the Budget Committee - receives the budget document and provides members of the public with an opportunity to ask questions about and comment on the budget document. More specifically, Oregon Budget Law is designed for a number of purposes:

1. To establish standard procedures for the preparation, presentation, administration and appraisal of budgets of municipal corporations;
2. To provide for a brief description of the programs of a municipal corporation and the fiscal policy which is to accomplish these programs;
3. To provide for estimation of revenues, expenditures and proposed taxes;
4. To provide specific methods for obtaining public views in the preparation of fiscal policy;
5. To provide for the control of revenues and expenditures for the promotion of efficiency and economy in the expenditure of public funds; and
6. To enable the public, taxpayers and investors to be apprised of the financial policies and administration of the municipal corporation in which they are interested.

(ORS 294.321 - emphasis added)

What does Oregon Budget Law say about when budgets are released to the public (and thus the CBACs), and why the CBACs can’t access budgets earlier in the budget process?

The Board - acting as the Budget Committee - is not allowed to deliberate on the Proposed budget (the “budget document”) before the first meeting at which it receives the document. (ORS 294.426(6)(a)). In interpreting the prohibition on deliberation, the Department of Revenue recommends that the following topics not be discussed prior to the first meeting:

• Specific estimates or appropriation amounts associated with any fund or line item, resource or requirement. 
• The question of whether to fund specific programs or expenditures. 
• The question of whether to impose any tax levy, or the amount of any levy.

(Department of Revenue, Pre-meeting Topics for Budget Committee Discussions PDF)

To comply with these requirements, the County releases the Proposed budget to the public - or parts of the public like CBAC members - at the same time the Board is allowed to deliberate on the budget document. Releasing earlier could also circumvent the purpose of the law, which is designed to provide standard procedures for the preparation and presentation of the budget, as well as specific methods for hearing from the public. And, similar to the requested budget, while decisions are being made about the draft budget document, there will be sensitive information about job or program funding that is not yet finalized. This logic fits with the fact that Oregon Budget Law indicates that the budget document becomes subject to disclosure when it is released (ORS 294.426(7)), which indicates that prior to that point it is not subject to disclosure under public records law.

What aspects of the budget do the CBACs advise on? 

To understand what CBAC members are asked to review and provide input on, check out the resource: Aspects of the budget.