Portland’s cash-strapped leaders are looking to divert dollars from the city’s lucrative voter-approved climate tax to prop up a public financing deal deemed essential to keep the Trail Blazers from leaving town.
Mayor Keith Wilson and other officials could seek to pull as much as $75 million from existing city projects approved with money from the Portland Clean Energy Community Benefits Fund to help bankroll a renovation of the Moda Center, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the negotiations.
The substantial sum would cover only a portion of what might need to be a $185 million commitment from the city, based on current discussions between government officials and the basketball team, those sources said…