PORTLAND, Ore. ( KOIN ) — Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler announced budget cuts of 5% across the board, with exceptions made for emergency services like police and fire.
The mayor and city economists said the cuts announced Friday are necessary to help the soon-to-be brand-new leadership in the city as they take office next year.
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The outgoing Mayor Wheeler is pushing for the cuts for Portland’s 2025-26 fiscal year because experts said expenses are growing faster than revenues, meaning money is going out but not coming in as quickly as it used to.
“We’re facing a challenging period with one-time federal resources expiring, increasing expenditures due to inflation and negotiated contracts, and trying to meet the needs and desires of Portlanders, which have admittedly changed substantially in recent years,” Wheeler said.
During a presentation at a city work session on Tuesday, Portland city commissioners alongside Mayor Wheeler listened and asked questions when it came to an economic forecast (the entire fiscal outlook work session can be found on the City of Portland’s YouTube page ). The key takeaways included that key sources of money are growing slower than in the past.