Cities like Eugene are having to make tough financial decisions due to declining revenues and rising costs.
Rick Obst via Flickr
Cities in Oregon are busy finalizing their budgets by July 1. Some are having to make tough financial decisions due to declining revenues and rising costs.
Robby Hammond is the city manager for Hillsboro. He said inflation has increased construction costs on city projects.
“We are in the process of building our first homeless shelter here in Hillsboro,” he said. " And just a couple of years ago when we began that process, prices have increased 30 to 40%.”
Hammond said the city had hoped to secure three million dollars in state funds it needs to help pay for the shelter.
But just last week, that funding request was denied. So work on the shelter has to now be put on hold. Hammond hopes that federal funds will come through later this year to help get the shelter built.
Eugene is also facing a budget shortfall and had to find about $15 million in cuts. City officials sent a survey last summer to residents to hear what programs and services they wanted to see get priority in terms of funding.
“We’ve invested in affordable housing and unhoused services,” said Twylla Miller, Eugene’s chief financial officer.
Eugene plans to prioritize funding for alternative response services like CAHOOTS, which can help in situations where people are experiencing homelessness or struggling with a mental health crisis but don’t need an armed police response.
“Public safety is also a priority. So while we have made reductions, we’ve also repurposed funding,” Miller said.
Miller and Hammond joined OPB’s Think Out Loud to discuss city budgets with guest host Jenn Chávez. You can listen to the full conversation here: