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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.”
Jordan said the council would have to address the shortfall during the upcoming fall budget monitoring process in which the council deals with any excess or dearth of funds.
Most of Wilson’s shelter plan is being funded by other governments, Metro and Multnomah County. The $11 million in state funding represented a meaningful chunk of external funding that Wilson was relying on to stand up his shelters. In total, all of the city’s existing and planned shelters this year were slated to cost $65 million.
The absence of those state dollars creates a massive funding hole in his plan—a plan that’s been marked by the hurried opening of low-barrier shelters across the city.
Wilson’s administration has been marked by relentless optimism that solving unsheltered homelessness is not only attainable, but that it’s possible within one year of his taking office.
But Wilson’s pledge—which is largely what got him elected despite no prior experience in government—has encountered hurdles as various news outlets in recent weeks have documented issues across some of the new shelters—including a lack of promised amenities, unsanitary conditions and neighborhood pushback.
Wilson’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
