PBOT to present $32 million budget cut proposal to city council

PORTLAND, Ore. (KPTV) - The Portland Bureau of Transportation says they will present a budget to city council that will include tens of millions of dollars in budget cuts.

The budget will be presented Tuesday morning during the city council work session. PBOT says the cuts could be up to $32 million, which they says comes after more than $20 million in cuts over the last four years.

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PBOT says in addition to the cuts, by the end of the next fiscal year they will have drawn down all $63 million in the department’s reserves. They say that they have cut 60 full-time positions in the last four years but this upcoming budget cut would lead to a significant amount of additional layoffs.

The $32-million shortfall comes in PBOT’s general transportation revenues.

According to PBOT, their general transportation revenue is the discretionary money they have for spending, which right now is $142 million and is 28% of their budget.

PBOT says some of that money has to be allocated to paying off debts, and say they’re actual discretionary revenue is around $100 million.

The bureau says the lack of money comes as they have seen historic drops in state highway funding and parking revenues.

PBOT says that several bureau officials will present several funding ideas that could raise enough revenue to present the cuts, but have not said what those ideas are yet.

The bureau says that if city officials don’t come up with a solution and no new funding is directed to the department, then people will see “dramatic and visible reductions to transportation service.” The bureau says it could slow down services and reduce their ability to invest in maintenance and safety beginning July 1 of next year.

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FOX 12 reached out to members of city council for comment but have not yet heard back.

The city council work session begins at 9:30 a.m.

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