In a move to redirect funds amidst a tight budget season, Portland City Councilor Mitch Green is proposing a 2% cut across the board to the city's External Materials and Services (EMS) budget. The proposed amendment, which could free up an estimated $1.5 million, aims to address urgent community needs without increasing taxes. Green's suggested cuts target spending on outside consultants and contractors, according to an announcement on the City of Portland website.
Green has pointed out a troublesome trend of growing EMS budgets that "are ballooning across City bureaus." This increase, he argues, comes at a labor cost, replacing union jobs and undermining the city's problem-solving capacity. "It’s bad for labor because too often these contracts are replacing unionized positions, it’s expensive, and it diminishes public sector capacity to solve our own problems," Green told the public as per City of Portland website. The money saved with these cuts is slated to be put toward renter protections, arts programs, and parks and recreation, among other initiatives. The City Council will be notably set to discuss the amendment in budget meetings scheduled on June 10 and 11.
The budget amendment comes at a time when Portland faces notable challenges in meeting its financial obligations due to projected shortfalls. Despite recognizing the need for more detailed data for targeted cuts, Green moves forward with the proposal given the urgency of the situation. He has acknowledged, "The unfortunate reality is that the data we receive from bureaus simply isn’t granular enough to get more prescriptive," as cited on the City of Portland website. His initiative reflects a balance between the need for spending discipline and the search for new revenue sources.
Councilor Green remains steady in his conviction that Portland needs to manage its spending effectively while also confronting the necessity of raising new revenue. The aim is to address urgent community priorities without additional burden on taxpayers. "We absolutely need to look at ways to raise new revenue," Green affirmed on City of Portland. The councilor is encouraging supporters of this reallocation of funds to reach out to their council representatives and sign up to testify at the upcoming City Council budget meetings.
