Portland City Leaders Plan 20% Cuts to Internal Services; Impact on General Fund Deficit Remains Unclear

Portland Mayor Keith Wilson’s budget drops next week. But city officials have offered one sneak preview of where cuts could land.

City leaders are ordering a 20% reduction in spending across a wide swath of core city services—including human resources, technology, equity, procurement, and communications—but how much money those cuts would actually save remains unknown.

City administrator Michael Jordan announced the reductions April 23, saying the move was intended to stabilize the city’s finances amid a general fund budget shortfall of roughly $60 million, though the number continues to be a moving target.

Services with central offices but smaller pockets nested across city bureaus—like human resources, technology, procurement and equity—would take the hit. The reductions, which could include layoffs, contract cuts and other trims, will be reflected in Mayor Wilson’s proposed budget, due May 5.

City officials said the move was intended to stabilize the city’s general fund but did not provide an estimate of how much money the 20% cuts would save, nor how many layoffs it might include. In response to questions from WW, the city’s press office said projectionswere still being finalized and would be released with the mayor’s budget.

The city has already forecast 275 full-time layoffs under the mayor’s plan. Officials say more layoffs are expected after a phased restructuring of services begins Sept. 30.

Asked whether the 20% cuts would result in 20% staff reductions across all affected areas, city officials did not directly answer.

“The work is actively underway,” city press officer Cody Bowman wrote in an email. Members of the City Council since taking office Jan. 1 have repeatedly urged city administrators, both publicly and privately, to cut duplicative services across city bureaus that formed as a result of the commissioner-style of government the city scrapped Jan. 1. But the council has also urged the city to cut management positions rather than union-represented jobs—two goals that may not be in total alignment.

Savings are expected to be phased in starting this fiscal year and fully realized by July 2026.

Portland’s budget crisis has deepened over recent months. City officials say the general fund gap is around $65 million currently, though that figure has bounced around in recent weeks.

The size of the city’s general fund deficit—and how much of it the cuts would close—remains unclear.