Multnomah County is staring at a massive hole in next year’s homeless services budget, with officials warning that about $87 million could vanish. County leaders say a cut of that size - roughly one quarter of the department’s current spending - would ripple through shelter capacity, eviction-prevention programs and rent assistance across the Portland area. Service providers and city officials say the timing could hardly be worse, as more people remain unhoused and moves into permanent housing stay stubbornly limited.
How Big Is the Hit
As reported by OregonLive, county staff told commissioners on Feb. 3 that the roughly $87 million gap represents about a 26% cut from this year’s homeless services budget of about $334 million. The blow would land across shelters, rental-assistance programs and eviction-prevention efforts. The Homeless Services Department is set to roll out specific plans for operating with less money on Feb. 13, and commissioners and providers are already gaming out which programs might be shielded and which could be pared back.
Officials Warn of Job and Service Cuts
According to Multnomah County, Interim Director Anna Plumb has warned that the smaller budget will likely mean cuts to staff and county-funded services. She has said the department will prioritize three core goals: keeping people housed, placing people into permanent housing and squeezing more efficiency out of the shelter system. County briefings and reports lay out possible tradeoffs, including shifting some shelter dollars toward housing assistance that has a stronger track record of moving people into permanent homes. Local leaders are blunt that any of these choices will be painful and politically touchy.
Why the Money Is Shrinking
County officials point to a slowdown in revenue from Metro’s Supportive Housing Services tax and the exhaustion of carryover funds that had temporarily padded the budget. OPB has reported that projections for the high-earner tax have cooled, which shrinks the pool of regionally distributed dollars. Federal HUD grants are part of the picture too, but many are awarded directly to nonprofits and do not show up in the county’s operating totals.
What It Would Mean on the Ground
According to Multnomah County’s Homeless Services Department, county dashboards and by-name lists counted more than 17,000 people experiencing homelessness in late 2025, with over 8,000 of them living outside or in vehicles. As OregonLive reported, movement from shelters into permanent housing has been modest: about 16% of people who stayed in county- and city-run shelters last fiscal year ended up in permanent homes. Officials say that combination of high need and relatively low exits into housing is exactly what makes cuts to placement and rent-assistance programs so risky.
Legal and Federal Context
A national fight over U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development funding added another layer of uncertainty earlier this year, when a federal judge temporarily blocked HUD’s 2025 changes to Continuum-of-Care funding that would have shifted money away from permanent supportive housing. Shelterforce and state attorneys general reported on the preliminary injunction. County and provider leaders say the ruling eases some immediate federal-level pressure, but it does nothing to refill the local and regional revenue that has sagged along with tax collections.
What’s Next
The Homeless Services Department is expected to lay out detailed budget options in mid-February as commissioners debate one-time backfills, contract shifts and program reductions. For a deeper look at how the county has handled these choices in the past, leaders point to Hoodline’s prior coverage of the county’s 2025 budget and subsequent modifications. Community groups say they will push hard for leaders to protect housing placements and eviction-prevention services as the budget decisions play out.
