Powerful outside interest groups are increasing pressure on the City Council to increase funding for the Portland Tribune Bureau and reduce funding for new overnight homeless shelters as work intensifies on the next city budget.

The council is scheduled to consider the next budget on Wednesday, May 21. It must be balanced and adopted by Thursday, but can be adjusted as late asJune 11. The next fiscal year begins on July 1.

The Partnership for Progress released the results of a recent DHM Research poll that shows strong public support for increasing police funding on Tuesday, May 20. According to the release, the DHM Research poll found that 69% of Portland voters support a ballot measure to increase police staffing to match the average of other large U.S. cities. Portland has just 1.2 officers per 1,000 residents,  half the national average of 2.4 officers and well below the median of 1.8 officers among America’s 50 largest cities, the release said.

“The City Council’s actions this Wednesday will determine whether we move forward or spiral further into decline. Our small businesses are suffering, and public safety is compromised. We are at a crossroad,” the release said.

Partnership for Progress lists its leaders as administrative law judge and unsuccessful council candidate Vadim Mozyrsky; Portland police Officer Eli Arnold, and Bob Weinstein, a former four-term mayor of Ketchican, Alaska.

Willamette Week characterizes the organization as representing “business interested” and reported the poll was financed by downtown property owner Greg Goodman and Calbag Metals CEO Warren Rosenfeld, among others.

Before that, the Welcome Home Coalition came out against Mayor Keith Wilson’s proposals to spend $29 million to create enough overnight shelters for all homeless Portlanders by the end of the year. Wilson has included funding for the plan in his proposed budget. The collation represents 80 homeless social service providers who support other programs to reduce homelessness.

“Funding for shelters should not come at the expense of funding for housing, or eviction prevention or rent assistance, those things all need to be part of a larger system, and that system needs to work together,” Sahaan McKelvey, a steering committee member for WHC and Director of Advocacy and Engagement for Self Enhancement, INC., testified before the council on Wednesday, May 7.

“I really want the mayor to succeed, but we know his plan will only be successful if there is a plan out of shelter. There needs to be investment and funding attached to move people out of shelters into housing, and that is for rent assistance and money for case management,” coalition Executive Director Molly Hogan said.

The coalition has over 3,000 followers on its Facebook page, It is using social media to urge its supporters to contact council members, oppose Wilson’s shelter plan, and urge funds be spent on other services, including housing and rent support.

Wednesday’s council meeting is scheduled for 12 hours, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. The council will face many challenges during the meeting, especially since it will be the first time the new 12-member body approved by city voters in November 2022 must balance a municipal budget before it takes effect on July 1, the beginning of the next fiscal year. All bureaus are now being managed by a city administrator and Mayor Keith Wilson can only vote to break a tie.

Among other things, the council must close a projected $93 million general fund shortfall. Wilson has proposed a balanced budget that accomplishes that through a series of fee increases, spending cuts, layoffs, and one-time fundings. Most councilors have opposed at least some parts of Wilson’s proposed budget, and several members have said they will submit alternatives in the form of amendments.

Major alternatives that have been publicly discussed include:

• Using the voter-approved Portland Clean Energy Fund which is collecting more than originally estimated through a 1% tax on large retailers to support unrelated programs.
• Reducing Wilson’s proposed Portland Police Bureau funding intended to fill 90 current vacant positions.
• Reducing general fund support of Prosper Portland, the city’s economic development agency, and much of the authority of its appointed citizen commission to the council.
• Reducing cuts to the maintenance of Portland parks by cutting unrelated employees and closing community center.
• Increasing golf course, rideshare, and other fee increases more than proposed by Wilson.
• Taking greater management of overtime paid by the Portland Police Bureau and Portland Fire & Rescue.
• Reducing the money Wilson wants to spend to provide overnight shelters for all homeless people in Portland by the end of the year, currently estimated at $29 million.

The council meeting began at 9 a.m. The first budget-related agenda item concerns adopting new water, sewer, and stormwater management rates and fees, followed by revising transportation fees and rates, and then amending the Portland Permitting & Development fee schedule.

The council is then scheduled to convene as the Budget Committee to consider the overall Fiscal Year 2025-2026 budget at 11:45 a.m. after that, the council will convene as the Prosper Portland Budget Committee to consider the Prosper Portland budget.

Public testimony will be allowed at all hearings. The meeting is scheduled to end at 9 p.m.

The council technically has until June 11 to approve the final version of next year’s budget. The full May 21 agenda can be found on the council’s website here.