City Council Work Session - Fall TAO

The Portland City Council held an informational work session on the Fall Technical Adjustment Ordinance, taking no vote, where staff previewed a reclassification of $1.08 billion from contingency to long-term reserves and councilors flagged a workforce-training amendment, a Moda Center set-aside, and the privatization of the Portland Tennis Center. The session, led by Council President Jamie Dunphy (District 1), was a preview only; the ordinance and two companion documents — a financial-policy ordinance and a budget-calendar resolution — go to the Committee of the Whole next week, with first and second readings in the last two weeks of October (00:07:38). Chief Financial Officer Jonas Biery described a "simpler and smaller fall TAO" and said the city is "essentially on target with the adopted budget." Reclassifying $1.08 billion from contingency to reserves The largest number in the package is a bookkeeping change. The TAO proposes to move $1.08 billion now budgeted as contingency into a category called reserve for future expenditure (00:38:16). Allegra Wilhite, Executive Director of the Tax Supervising and Conservation Commission, explained the distinction in Oregon budget law: contingency covers spending you expect this year for an unknown purpose, while a reserve for future expenditure is money saved for a known purchase in a later year. The Department of Revenue advised that such reserves are "not forbidden" in any fund. Budget Director Ruth Levine said the money stays accessible through a supplemental if a need arises sooner. The largest single shift is the Portland Clean Energy Fund, where about $300 million tied to a five-year spending plan moves to the reserve category. Biery said the total figure the city reports as appropriated each year will drop by $1.08 billion as a result. Councilor Eric Zimmerman (District 4) credited the alignment work, saying the city had been "using these words incorrectly" across its bureaus for the first two years of the new government. Where the general fund money lands Levine walked through balancing the general fund. Prior-year reporting showed about $16.8 million in general fund underspending, under 2% of a roughly $875 million allocation (00:29:12), which she tied in part to the prior administration's hiring freeze and contract restrictions. A starting balance of about $14.7 million is drawn down through required adjustments, $4.6 million in encumbrance carryovers, and policy set-asides, leaving $1.6 million the TAO proposes to put into unrestricted contingency (01:40:31). Councilor Angelita Morillo (District 3) challenged that use. She noted the July supplemental borrowed roughly $9.96 million from general fund contingency to be repaid in the spring, and asked why $5 million was going to reserves instead of paying that down (01:54:41). Biery said the administration follows existing policy and that waiving it would be council's decision. A new business-tax reserve, and Smith's procedural objection The package creates a business license tax stabilization reserve. Biery said the tax brings in roughly $220 million, nearly 30% of general fund discretionary revenue, and can fall 15 to 20% in a single year. The policy targets a 15% reserve, funded from the first third of available discretionary money; even with the proposed transfer, the reserve stays under 3% (01:20:33). Continue reading the summary and transcript on Windowbox: https://portland.windowbox.app/meetings/2026-10-07-ws-1 Audio is the City of Portland's public recording of the meeting. Windowbox is not affiliated with or endorsed by the City of Portland.