The city of Portland faces an unexpected $11 million shortfall in its homeless shelter budget after anticipated state funding never materialized.
The dour news was delivered in a letter to members of the Portland City Council on Tuesday from City Administrator Mike Jordan. Jordan wrote that the state funding, which Mayor Keith Wilson baked into his proposed budget and councilors approved in June even though the city had no guarantee of securing that money, would not cripple Wilson’s sweeping shelter plan or the city’s existing shelters. (Wilson has promised to open 1,500 new shelter beds by the end of the year.)
“A reimagination of best use of funds allows the team to achieve Mayor Wilson’s overnight shelter, day center, and day storage objectives,“ Jordan wrote in the memo, first reported by The Oregonian. Jordan also assured the council that the city’s existing alternative shelters, mostly tiny homes, would not be negatively impacted by the shortfall due to “creative and efficient cost saving measures, as well as rebalancing of staff time across both overnight and alternative shelter programs.”…