Portland Mayor Charlie Hales at his 2014-15 budget proposal

Mayor Hales talks about the proposed street maintenance fee on Thursday, as chief of staff Gail Shibley (sitting) and PBOT director Leah Treat look on.

(Andrew Theen/The Oregonian)

UPDATE: This post was updated with additional context and specific programs

.

Portland Mayor Charlie Hales' proposed spending plan for the next budget year includes more money for rental assistance programs, youth shelters and preliminary work on a westside emergency preparedness center, according to a proposal released Thursday.

Hales' budget proposal doesn't include a $1 million request for additional sidewalks in East Portland, or assurances that 26 Portland firefighters will remain employed once a federal grant expires in July 2015.

While Hales said nobody in City Hall is singing "happy days are here again," this budget cycle is a welcome reprieve from the $21.5 million shortfall last year and subsequent belt tightening.

"We are mostly holding the line," Hales said.

Hales' budget includes spending preferences for $9.3 million in new general fund revenue available to the City Council this year. His proposal also assumes that a plan to eliminate two urban renewal districts is approved by City Council, putting millions of dollars of property back on the tax rolls and funneling $1.5 million to the general fund next year.

Hales said City Council will hold a work session on the urban renewal changes next week.



The general fund, the city's discretionary checkbook filled largely by property taxes and business license fees, pays for parks, police fire and other essential city services.

Portland's general fund revenue is expected to be $423 million in the next fiscal year, according to city budget officials.

Hales said he did not include Commissioner Steve Novick's request for $1 million for sidewalks because of the ongoing discussions on

to fund safety and maintenance projects. Hales said approving the $1 million request could give taxpayers "false hope," that City Council could make improvements to the transit network by moving general fund dollars around.

He said city can't make the necessary improvements "without new money."

"I don't want to give people mixed signals," Hales said.

The mayor directed City Council to funnel budget requests into one of three general topic areas: Emergency preparedness, decreasing homelessness and complete neighborhoods.

The City Council will vote on a proposed budget on May 28.

Here are a few highlights from Hales' budget:

Emergency Preparedness



The budget includes $1.2 million in one-time funding to begin design and a master plan for the Jerome F. Sears U.S. Reserve Center to make the facility an emergency operations center for residents on the west side. Hales said "it's a start," but the city must do more to get ready in the event of a disaster.

Money for a new community emergency notification system, some $100,000 is in the proposal too. The city recently had issues with its current vendor, FirstCall, during an officer

in Southwest Portland.

Housing and Homelessness

Hales is proposing $1.25 million in ongoing general fund dollars to increase rental housing for vulnerable Portlanders, serving at least 250 homeless people, under a $500,000 portion of those dollars. Another $500,000 is dedicated to restoring youth transitional shelters, targeting 16-25 year old homeless individuals. Another $250,000 in general fund would go to short term rental assistance programs. Hales said the city is continuing to find programs with proven results, and the city must address the "crisis" of homelessness.

Another $1 million in one-time general fund cash would go to boosting rental housing options in the city.

Local Organizations

at a community budget hearing at David Douglas High School last week.

The East Portland Action Plan will likely get its $300,000 in one-time funding to support the local alliance of neighbors

SUN Schools will receive another $740,000 in ongoing funding to expand programming

The budget includes a $140,000 request for the Office of Neighborhood Involvement's community grants program, which was cut during the past budget cycle.

would receive $30,000 under thee mayor's budget. the day laborer center on Northeast Everett Street already won favor at a recent community budget hearing.

Tree Code

The Bureau of Development services will add four inspector positions to help enforce the

, which Hales said has been in a "twilight zone," where it's been approved by City Council but never enforced. Hales said the budget proposal is a "somewhat cautious step" toward fully implementing the code overseeing tree regulations citywide.

Water and Bureau of Environmental Services

Hales said he told the bureau directors to "question everything" and to submit 2.5 percent operating cost reductions. He said the city is "far from done" in looking at the bureaus' operating costs and at water and sewer rates.

Rate increases for the sewer and stormwater will likely be 4 percent, while water customers' rate increase is expected to be 7 percent. That equates to a $2.51 monthly increase for sewer and stormwater, and $1.93 for water, according to the documents.

Park Staff





The budget includes money to convert 20 seasonal Bureau of Parks & Recreation staffers in city recreation centers from seasonal to permanent positions. Hales declined to approve a request to convert an additional 10 seasonal park rangers to full-time status. "I think we need to better clarify where we're going with the park ranger program before we do that," Hales said

.

He said there are

to answer regarding the park rangers prior to addressing that request. For example, Hales said: "What will their work be, contrasted with the police bureau?"



Southwest Corridor Study





Hales also backs a $650,000 request from Novick to further study high-capacity transit along Barbur Boulevard in Southwest Portland. "Yes, there's been an outbreak of opposition in Tigard," Hales said of the multi-agency

, "but that doesn't mean that in Portland there's not huge support for continuing the process."

Hales admitted that there's a "dilemma" in pursuing large capital projects while also shopping a potential street fee, but he said the city needs to kick start the long capital planning process now.

"

The federal government is still a good partner for building out a transportation system on the transit side," Hales said, in contrast to the rapidly diminishing Highway Trust Fund.

"We ought to stay in that game as long as we have a transit agenda here in Portland," Hales said. "That doesn't mean that the rest of the system is not a mess."

-- Andrew Theen