The Strategic Finance Roundtable, a workgroup of the Budget Committee, met this week to continue identifying long-term solutions to the city’s budget challenges.
Meeting Highlights:
- The Public Safety Fee is in effect and expected to generate approximately $816,000 in the 2025–26 fiscal year.
- The Public Safety Fee study will be presented at a council work session next week and brought to the city council for approval in November.
- Staff provided updates on:
- Urban Renewal Agency (URA) properties being incorporated into a development plan.
- The transition of Independence Days to a newly forming nonprofit organization.
- An economic overview was shared to provide context for the upcoming budget season:
- Nationally, recession concerns have eased as markets stabilize and consumer confidence improves.
- Oregon continues to underperform compared to national averages in job growth and unemployment.
- Population growth remains steady statewide at 0.7%, projected to slow to 0.4% through 2035, while Polk County is seeing 1–2% growth.
- Federal tax changes (HR1) are projected to reduce Oregon’s General Fund revenue by $888 million in the 2025–27 biennium.
- To date, $1,417 in community donations have been received through the city’s website to support Community Services and Parks.
- The group discussed that a levy appears to be the preferred long-term option for sustaining Community Services and Parks funding.
- Members also emphasized the need to plan for the “gap” period between voter approval and when levy funds become available.
- The group requested:
- A comparison of timelines and outcomes for a May vs. November levy.
- A calculation of what a monthly utility fee equivalent would look like to support these same services.
Moving forward:
Staff will prepare follow-up materials on levy timing and utility fee options for the group’s next discussion.
You can watch the full video by clicking the button below.
