NEWS RELEASE: Multnomah County Board of Commissioners approves $4 billion budget for Fiscal Year 2026, preserving vital services in face of significant spending gap

Multnomah County, Ore. (June 12, 2025) — The Board of County Commissioners today approved a $4 billion balanced budget that makes painful tradeoffs to preserve core health, homelessness and public safety programs in the face of Multnomah County’s largest spending gap in a decade.

The adopted Fiscal Year 2026 budget ensures an increase in shelter beds and maintains housing and case management services to help people leave homelessness. It supports community safety by fully funding the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office, and adult parole and probation programs. It funds work to tackle our community’s substance use crisis. And it invests in the strategic rebuilding of Multnomah County Animal Services.

“Our County must continue to be a safe haven for our values of democracy, equity, accountability, kindness, and support for one another,” said Chair Jessica Vega Pederson. “Following months of public deliberations, I believe the budget we adopt today reflects the priorities of our board and the needs our community has shared. People can trust that Multnomah County will continue to serve our community with life-changing, life-saving care and support.”

“I would have preferred to be passing my first Multnomah County budget with a better revenue forecast,” said Commissioner Meghan Moyer. “However, I'm proud that I did everything I could possibly do to preserve jobs and services. That included finding cost savings in county internal services and vacancies and using those savings to fund things that would have been cut.”

“There are no ‘good cuts’ in a County budget. There are simply policy decisions. Our work ensures there is a safety net for our most vulnerable friends, family and neighbors,” said Commissioner Shannon Singleton. “This is not about pitting homelessness against sustainability against food security against healthcare. What I presented in my amendments are policy decisions to ensure that we move forward on housing justice, access to critical services that the federal government has divested in, and making sure that we are protecting our most vulnerable community members who are often the first hit during economic downturns.”

“Throughout the budget process, I remained grounded in and focused on the priorities that are most important to residents of Multnomah County and in my district of East Portland: addressing homelessness, expanding access to mental health and substance use services, improving public safety, and championing economic growth and employment opportunities,” said Commissioner Julia Brim-Edwards. “The Commission improved and built on the budget proposed by the Chair. We were able to make key investments in homelessness services that move people off the streets, into shelter and on a path to housing, and we are expanding sobering, addiction treatment and recovery services. Additionally, I led efforts with my fellow Commissioners to restore essential public safety services, including the District Attorney’s Domestic Violence Unit, Treatment Court, and the Auto and Organized Retail Theft Task Forces that help to improve community safety, livability and access to justice.”

“Balancing this budget has been a difficult exercise to say the least. Cutting and prioritizing critical programs that impact our region’s safety and livability is not a task I take lightly,” said Commissioner Vince Jones-Dixon. “This challenge has required debate and disagreement, and I am encouraged by how my colleagues remained congenial and constructive as we conducted this work in public and on behalf of the public.”

Amendments follow substantial public discussions

The final spending plan funds the work of 11 County departments and nearly 6,000 full-time employees, as well as the work of public offices led by three independently elected officials: the Auditor, Sheriff and District Attorney. The budget finances operations for the County’s next fiscal year, which runs from July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2026.

But the adopted budget reflects significant changes since Chair Vega Pederson released her Executive Budget in April, including revenue amendments totaling nearly $2 million.

Those changes include continued funding for school-based mental health services, additional funding for the District Attorney’s Office, restored funding for employment services for people experiencing homelessness, and restored resources to support legal services that help prevent evictions.

Commissioners began discussing amendments and budget notes earlier than ever this year, spending several weeks hearing from departments, asking questions, and proposing and discussing dozens of proposals in more than 23 public work sessions.

That work included nine hours of discussion alone on Tuesday and Wednesday and six hours Thursday. Commissioners also held three community hearings in May where they heard directly from the public.

The Board ultimately approved 29 amendments, accommodating requests and adjustments brought by every member of this largely new Board. A list of all amendments — including information on which Board member proposed each amendment — will be updated here.

In the face of considerable financial constraints, the budget includes several reductions aimed at protecting as best as possible the County’s highest priorities of direct services and community safety — particularly services for people without housing, people who have health issues and disabilities and lack access to care, and communities most affected by disparities.

The budget makes administrative reductions to preserve direct services to the community, streamline their delivery and make programs more efficient. Significant reductions added by the Board on Thursday include staff in Chair Vega Pederson’s and the Chief Operating Officer’s offices and positions in the County’s Complaints Investigation Unit.

Overall, the final budget eliminates at least 100 full-time positions, largely starting with those already vacant. Other vacant positions will be held open and filled later than planned to save money. A full count of affected positions, following Thursday’s amendments, is not yet available.

Financial factors drive difficult budget decisions

Balancing the 2026 budget — while upholding the County’s values — was extraordinarily challenging.

Office vacancies and reduced property values in downtown Portland sharply reduced property tax revenues — among the main sources of revenue for the County’s General Fund. Meanwhile, personnel costs are higher due to inflation and other factors. That combination led to a $15.5 million shortfall in the County’s General Fund.

Additionally, because of falling revenues from Metro’s Supportive Housing Services tax, the County’s Homeless Services Department has faced its own significant spending gap.

Most of the County’s $4 billion total budget comes from funding sources that must be used for specific purposes, such as road funds. The Board’s months of consideration largely focused on how the County should spend its $897 million General Fund, the largest pool of discretionary funds that Commissioners can allocate.

The Chair recognized her fellow elected officials, Budget Director Christian Elkin, County Economist Jeff Renfro, County staff and the community for their work on, and contributions to, the spending plan.

“I want to again thank my colleagues on the Board for your engagement in developing a final budget. We’ve all worked to make tough trade-offs, and we’ve done that in a process that engages the public much more directly this year. Thank you for your leadership and commitment to this level of transparency,” Chair Vega Pederson said. “You have been present for 23 very intense, active budget work sessions, three community budget hearings and 70+ hours of public forums — and I know for every hour you spent in public sessions, there were many hours outside of them. Every second of that work has been critical to where we are today.”

Prioritizing housing and homelessness 

The Homeless Services Department, formerly the Joint Office of Homeless Services, faced unprecedented reductions in the face of lower-than-anticipated revenue from Supportive Housing Services funds.

The adopted budget directs substantial General Fund and state investments to fill some of those gaps. The budget funds the County’s system of 24-hour shelters; programs to help people move out of shelter beds or off sidewalks and back into housing; rental assistance to help people avoid falling into homelessness in the first place; and $10 million to continue providing dollars to support the City of Portland’s shelter programs, including Safe Rest Villages and Temporary Alternative Shelter Sites.

The Board unanimously approved an amendment by Commissioners Singleton and Brim-Edwards that provides $2.9 million to fund employment services programs that offer incomes, housing support and skills training for people experiencing homelessness, which were suggested for cuts in the Chair’s Executive Budget.

Commissioner Singleton’s amendment to fund operations at two shelters, Wy’east and Market Street, for only the first nine months of the fiscal year received unanimous support. The shelters were already facing closure, likely before the end of calendar year 2026. The cost savings from the amendment were applied to support an expansion in funding for permanent supportive housing.

Amendments from Commissioner Jones-Dixon redirected funding from the planned East County Homelessness Resource Center — the development of which is currently paused to allow for additional community engagement — to fund housing placements and other services for people experiencing homelessness in east County.

An additional amendment from Commissioner Singleton restores about $648,000 in legal services contracted by the Homeless Services Department that serve people experiencing and at risk of homelessness. The Board approved additional funding for legal services funded by the Department of County Human Services.

To help fill the gap in Supportive Housing Services funds, the Homeless Services Department will not refill its Supportive Housing Services reserves and contingencies funds this year. Normally, the department would have budgeted a percentage of its Supportive Housing Services revenue to those funds. Not doing so reduced the shortfall by $29.4 million.

Maintaining community safety

Through a $142.5 million investment, the adopted budget allows the Sheriff’s Office to continue operating 1,130 beds in the County’s two jails. Those funds also help the Sheriff’s Office to meet new requirements following the revision of Measure 110 and an order from the County’s Presiding Judge to keep beds open. The budget also sustains human resources staff working to address deputy shortages.

The budget also stabilizes the District Attorney’s Office staff.

The Chair’s Executive Budget provided ongoing funding for 11 prosecutor positions that previously received temporary, one-time funding. Alongside those funds, amendments from Commissioners Brim-Edwards and Moyer provided an additional $639,000 to retain three prosecutors working on civil commitments, treatment court and domestic violence. The Board voted 3-2 to approve those funds, with Chair Vega Pederson and Commissioner Singleton voting no.

And an amendment co-sponsored by Commissioners Brim-Edwards and Jones-Dixon provides $500,000 to retain, for at least one more year, task forces focused on retail and auto theft. The District Attorney’s Office also received a $350,000 grant from the Portland Police Bureau to support those task forces. The Board also voted 3-2 for the amendment, with Commissioners Moyer and Singleton voting no.

Additionally, the Board voted 3-2 to approve an amendment from Commissioner Brim-Edwards that restores three positions tasked with supporting the District Attorney’s Office’s body-worn camera program. Chair Vega Pederson and Commissioner Singleton voted against the amendment.

Supporting healthcare and substance use resources 

The adopted budget continues funding for the County’s Behavioral Health Resource Center in downtown Portland, which provides a day center, shelter beds and transitional housing serving people with mental health challenges who are homeless or in transition.

The budget also supports planning work for the community’s long-awaited 24/7 drop-off sobering and crisis stabilization center. In addition, it funds overdose prevention and behavioral health services for youth and adults in custody, as well as the County’s comprehensive crisis services that include mobile crisis intervention and an urgent walk-in clinic.

A unanimously approved amendment from Commissioner Brim-Edwards, co-sponsored by Chair Vega Pederson and Commissioner Moyer, provides $834,000 in funding for 5.01 full-time equivalent school-based mental health consultants. The Board also approved a budget note — used to request future policy discussions or identify areas the Board would like to explore in depth later — that puts an emphasis on redesigning services to improve access for students with the most needs and identifying a sustainable funding model.

An amendment from Commissioner Moyer restored services to the Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI) Clinic to increase access to STI services. 

An additional $107,000, secured through an amendment sought by Commissioner Singleton and passed unanimously, will restore funding for a STI and Clinical Services nPEP/PrEP navigator.

Protecting youth, families and seniors 

Despite an uncertain state and federal funding landscape, the Board-approved budget prioritizes direct core services centered on some of our most vulnerable community members: children, families and seniors.

It allocates $3.5 million in emergency rent assistance payments and eviction prevention programs, helping households remain in their homes, working to prevent homelessness in the first place.

The final budget also funds $1.89 million in legal services and supports between the Department of County Human Services and the Homeless Services Department that address fines, fees and other barriers that limit access to housing, employment and stability for community members and families. The Board unanimously approved an amendment, sponsored by Commissioner Singleton, in support of referrals to community legal clinics, peer navigation, as well as eviction prevention legal services through the County’s Youth and Family Services.

The budget increases wages to help foster greater staff retention in the SUN (Schools Uniting Neighborhoods) Service System. SUN Community Schools are neighborhood hubs that serve students and families, providing after-school programming with quality instruction and extracurricular activities; connecting families to food, shelter and energy bill resources, and health and mental health services; and offering family activities and events. It includes support for Family Resource Navigators who support families in achieving economic security, with a focus on improving housing stability by reducing barriers in navigating systems. This includes $1 million in emergency rental assistance to support families at risk of homelessness.

The Board also unanimously approved an amendment sponsored by Commissioner Moyer to expand the work of the Homeless Mobile Intake Team by $500,000 to reach people with severe and persistent mental illness. The team, part of Multnomah County's Department of County Human Services' Aging, Disability, and Veterans Services Division, helps people experiencing homelessness connect or reconnect to existing resources, focusing on those who are aging and/or have disabilities. 

The Department of County Human Services’ total General Fund budget, however, was reduced by approximately $3.75 million — affecting the department’s administration, as well as its Youth and Family Services and Aging, Disability and Veterans Services divisions.

Additional key investments and decisions 

The Board unanimously approved an amendment from Commissioner Brim-Edwards, co-sponsored by Commissioner Moyer, that restores $200,000 for Multnomah County Animal Services’ contracted emergency services. The investment supports after-hours emergency medical care for pets, including fostered animals and those found injured or sick by law enforcement or good Samaritans outside of regular shelter hours. 

The adopted budget works to repair past harm done by the County to the Chinese-American community decades ago, when the County owned and managed Lone Fir Cemetery. More than 2,800 Chinese and Chinese American people were buried in Lone Fir starting in the 1860s. After the County purchased the cemetery in the 1920s, it ordered members of the Chinese community to remove buried loved ones from the cemetery’s Block 14 to make room for a maintenance building. While many were exhumed and returned to China in accordance with their cultural practices, some of their bodies remain in unmarked graves.

The budget includes $1 million for a memorial planned by Metro that honors the unrecognized stories of Chinese Americans originally buried at Lone Fir Cemetery.

The Board unanimously approved a budget note sponsored by Commissioners Brim-Edwards and Moyer and Chair Vega Pederson that commits the County to make a formal apology to the Chinese American community by June 26, 2025. The note promises the Board will monitor construction on the memorial over the coming year and prioritize additional funds as they become available in future fiscal years.

Additional information and comments

You can watch a video of the Board’s deliberations and meeting here.

The Budget Office’s FY 2026 website — which includes links to program offers, amendments, department and office presentations, and more — is here.

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