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Multnomah County Commissioner Vince Jones-Dixon Secures Investments for East Multnomah County in FY 2027 Budget

PORTLAND, Ore. — Last week, the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners took formal action adopting the Fiscal Year 2027 budget. This was a historically challenging budget year, requiring many difficult decisions and necessary cuts to close a significant spending gap. Despite these constraints, Commissioner Vince Jones-Dixon prioritized investments that empower community, maintain core services, and ensure East Multnomah County continues to receive vital support, while keeping the health and well-being of the entire County at the forefront.

Commissioner Jones-Dixon wishes to express his gratitude to the residents, community partners, and local leaders who took the time to passionately advocate for the needs of District 4 and Multnomah County as a whole. He also extends his sincere appreciation to his fellow Commissioners for their collegiality, partnership, and shared commitment to serving the public during such a demanding process.

A central theme of Commissioner Jones-Dixon’s budget approach this year was true empowerment. Rather than simply managing crises, this budget invests heavily in giving people the tools they need to build their own stability and futures. A prime example of this is the successful restoration of employment services within the homeless services department, which ensures that individuals experiencing housing instability have low-barrier, supported pathways to earn income, develop long-term skills, and achieve independence.

FY 2027 Budget Amendments:

Commissioner Jones-Dixon successfully sponsored and co-sponsored several crucial amendments that will have a distinctly positive impact on East Multnomah County:

Restore Employment Services ($3,788,924): Sponsored alongside Commissioners Brim-Edwards and Singleton, this amendment restores crucial workforce, employment, and hygiene services throughout the County. It provides low-barrier, entry-level employment opportunities for individuals experiencing or at risk of homelessness, empowering them to earn income and build work history. It also ensures the availability of essential hygiene and preventative health services at nine locations throughout East County six days per week.
Gresham Homeless Services ($1,220,795): This amendment fully funds the City of Gresham Homeless Services Team at FY 2026 service levels. This ensures the continuation of a high-performing, dedicated team that takes responsibility for all aspects of unsheltered homelessness, from outreach to comprehensive case management and housing navigation for the people of Gresham.
Oregon State Uuniversity Extension Services ($110,000): This investment builds a foundation for a sustainable food and agriculture system that nourishes people and creates jobs. Through partnerships, this funding leverages Multnomah County's agricultural land to address hunger, improve health, and build a thriving agricultural workforce in East Multnomah County and beyond.
Reentry Transition Hub ($160,000): This directs funding for the build-out and operational establishment of a Multnomah County Reentry Transition Hub at the Multnomah County Detention Center. It will serve as a welcoming, trauma-informed environment where peer mentors and housing coordinators immediately connect individuals leaving custody to stable housing, treatment, and support systems to drive down homelessness and recidivism.
East County Outreach ($305,490): This allocates funding to establish a dedicated, responsive, and geographically targeted homeless outreach and navigation service network exclusively serving East Multnomah County. It focuses on linking unsheltered individuals in Troutdale, Fairview and Wood Village directly to local behavioral health resources, stabilizing services, and regional housing systems.
Strategic Prosecution Unit ($514,000): Co-sponsored with Commissioner Brim-Edwards, this amendment provides funding for the Strategic Prosecution Unit within the District Attorney's Office. This unit strengthens prosecutorial and analytical capacity to disrupt high-impact, coordinated property crimes, including auto theft, burglary, and robbery.
Eviction Prevention Legal Services ($210,164): Co-sponsored with Commissioner Brim-Edwards, this restores eviction prevention and support services for families and individuals. It directly supports legal defense, emergency rental assistance, and housing stabilization to maintain a front-line defense against tenant displacement.
LPSCC Justice Fellowships ($50,000): This sustains the Justice Fellowship program for a new cohort of up to eight fellows. It empowers justice-involved individuals by formally integrating their unique, valuable lived experiences into criminal legal system policymaking to help design more effective solutions.
East County Fair Housing Testing ($128,000): Co-sponsored with Commissioner Singleton, this ensures that people living outside of the City of Portland continue to have access to fair housing investigations. Because of federal cuts, these County dollars are the only funds available to do this work in East County. The program will fund approximately 60 fair housing tests in East Multnomah County to detect discrimination in the housing market.

Budget Notes & Upcoming Resolutions

In addition to direct funding amendments, Commissioner Jones-Dixon introduced several strategic initiatives to evaluate and improve critical services in District 4. Notably, three of these initiatives will come before the Board of Commissioners soon as formal Resolutions:

Gresham Homeless Services IGA: A resolution to enter into a three-year intergovernmental agreement (IGA) with the City of Gresham to maintain homeless services within current boundaries at current service levels.
East County Homeless Outreach & Human Services: A resolution to build out a targeted homeless outreach and human services network by establishing a partnership with the East Multnomah County cities of Fairview, Troutdale, and Wood Village.
Housing Innovation Pilot: A resolution to launch a one-year public-private partnership in District 4 offering free lease support services, lease guarantees, and lease default support to help housing-ready participants secure stable housing faster.

Commissioner Jones-Dixon also successfully secured the following Budget Notes to guide future County action and accountability:

Plan for Halsey Main Street Project: This budget note requests a formalized financial plan and cost-sharing model to support safety, beautification, and pedestrian and bicycle-friendly infrastructure improvements along a three-mile stretch of NE Halsey Street in East County.
Comprehensive Assessment of East County Investments: This budget note requires an analysis of County investments and services delivered specifically to District 4 over the last five years to identify how to best reduce long-standing, critical disparities.
County Data Strategy: This budget note directs an evaluation and modernization of the County's data systems, including the development of an "Impact-on-Outcomes" dashboard to govern data use and improve decision-making.
Gresham Holding Facility Assessment: This budget note requests that the Sheriff's Office partner with the Gresham Police Department to assess the operational and financial feasibility of reopening the holding facility at the Gresham Police Headquarters to improve officer turnaround times and public safety presence in East County.

"How we showed up as elected officials is what the public expects, not bickering, but governing on their behalf" said Commissioner Jones-Dixon. "And even in a year of scarcity, I'm proud we were able to empower our neighbors, protect our most vulnerable, and ensure the needed resources are devoted to East County."

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 20, 2026

East Multnomah County Commissioner Vince Jones-Dixon Introduces "East County Package" of Budget Amendments to address Public Safety, Economic Empowerment, and Geographic Equity

PORTLAND, OR — Today, at the Multnomah County budget hearing, District 4 Commissioner Vince Jones-Dixon introduced a comprehensive slate of budget amendments designed to bolster community safety and economic empowerment for the residents and businesses of East Multnomah County.

Faced with a challenging fiscal landscape and significant proposed cuts to East County services, Commissioner Jones-Dixon’s "East County Package" reallocates funds into high-performing, localized programs that create long-term stability and opportunity.

"East Multnomah County residents have paid into regional tax systems for programs and investments. Those investments need to reflect the needs of our community," said Commissioner Jones-Dixon. "This package is a direct response to the concerns I hear every day from our working families, community members that are struggling and the business community. The strategy of this package is to direct funding into what works, and set the example in East County of how investing in safe communities and pathways to living wage employment transforms public investments into stability and self-sufficiency.”

The East County Package of amendments includes the following key legislative priorities:

Advancing Regional Community Safety, Accountability and Economic Opportunity

Fully Funding the Gresham Homeless Services Team (Amendment #1): Secures $1,220,795 in ongoing funding to maintain the City of Gresham’s highly successful, dedicated Homeless Services Team at full capacity. This high-performing team takes full responsibility for localized outreach, case management, and permanent housing placements, consistently exceeding its county metrics—surpassing its FY2026 housing goals by 49% as of May 1, 2026. An accompanying budget note establishes a three-year intergovernmental agreement (IGA) to secure long-term service continuity for Gresham residents.
Expanding Frontline Homeless Outreach and Human Services in Fairview, Wood Village, Troutdale and the unincorporated areas of East Multnomah County (Amendment #2) This amendment reallocates $600,000 from one-time General Fund resources to establish a dedicated, responsive, and geographically targeted homeless outreach and navigation service network exclusively serving East Multnomah County (District 4). This program will focus on linking unsheltered individuals directly to local behavioral health resources, stabilizing services, workforce opportunities and regional housing systems in coordination with local and county law enforcement.
Full Restoration of Eviction Prevention Support (Amendment #3): Redirects $210,164 to reverse a budget cut to Youth and Family Services (Program Offer 25131C). Fully funding this program works upstream to help people avoid the traumatic and costly experience of homelessness, protecting them from displacement and eviction court proceedings.
East County Mobile Health & Hygiene Services (Amendment #4): Restores $804,325 to continue critical, life-saving mobile and stationary shower, laundry, and preventative healthcare services across nine East County locations. Staffed primarily by individuals with lived experience, these services address immediate health and hygiene needs, build the trust necessary to connect unsheltered individuals to housing and employment resources, and preserve significant prior County capital investments.
MCDA Strategic Prosecution Unit (Amendment #5): Allocates $1,253,221 in one-time General Funds to fully staff a 7.00 FTE specialized unit within the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office. This team of prosecutors, investigators, and analysts will actively disrupt high-impact property crime networks—including organized retail theft, commercial burglaries, and auto theft—that place local businesses, neighborhoods, and families at direct risk.
Workforce & Employment Services (Amendment #6): Restores $3,238,924 in funding for workforce and employment programs in service to people at risk of – or transitioning out of – homelessness. Championing economic empowerment, Jones-Dixon emphasized that supportive employment programs are highly effective at providing stability via opportunities for personal growth, steady income, and long-term housing. This amendment seeks to protect the services that ensure unhoused individuals have a sustainable pathway from County support to stability and self-sufficiency.

A Strategy Grounded in Fiscal Responsibility and Equity

Commissioner Jones-Dixon’s package strategically reduces centralized and non-localized program allocations to ensure that District 4 communities receive equitable funding.

The proposed amendments will be debated and voted on by the full Board of County Commissioners ahead of the final adoption of the FY 2026–2027 budget in June.