Portland would pay TriMet nearly

, more than three times

, according to an amendment headed to the Portland City Council on Wednesday.

It's not clear why costs are increasing. The council will be asked to approve a third amendment that would increase expenses yet again, well above the

.

City officials haven't scheduled any time to talk about the costs and the agreement is slated to be approved Wednesday with no discussion.

The biggest increases from 2010 to today deals with "testing, start up, operations."

In 2010, the city budgeted $40,000. Today, it's $1.1 million.

According to the 2010 contract, TriMet was supposed to "coordinate vehicle testing, start-up activities, operations planning and revenue service." As part of those duties, TriMet was supposed to "provide appropriate staff to review proposed testing, (vehicle) burn-in and start-up plans, review results of procedures, assist with diagnosis of issues and propose alternatives."

The eastside streetcars, manufactured by United Streetcar, were not delivered according to schedule and have yet to be certified for passengers.

Another steep contract increase is tied to right of way acquisition, quality assurance, disadvantaged business outreach and a before and after study. In previous budgets, those services were listed individually and totaled $175,000 -- but now the city has budgeted almost $425,000 but isn't specifying what caused the increase.

Dan Anderson, a spokesman for the Portland Bureau of Transportation, said he couldn't immediately answer why costs are increasing until first talking with the city's streetcar project manager and executive director of streetcar operations.

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-- Brad Schmidt