The Portland Policy Documents (PPD) began as a joint initiative of the Mayor's Office and Auditor's Office to capture all City policies and administrative rules in one central location. Ordinance No. 175959, effective in October 2001, created the PPD and directed the Auditor to gather all City policies and rules and publish them on the Internet. City Code Chapter 1.07 governs the PPD.
Types of Documents in Portland Policies
There are three main types of policies:
- Binding City Policy. Statements of the Council, expressed in a resolution or ordinance, that are directed to future decision-making or procedure and have binding effect or serve as mandatory approval criteria. The resolutions or ordinances must state in their text that the policy being adopted is a “Binding City Policy.” This category of policies excludes Comprehensive Plan policies, which are organized separately.
- Non-binding City Policies. Statements of the Council’s opinion, expressed in a resolution or ordinance, that does not have binding effect or serve as mandatory approval criteria for future decision-making. The resolutions or ordinances must state in their text that the policy being adopted is a Non-binding City Policy. Examples include statements urging support for charitable or political efforts and statements encouraging civic involvement.
- Administrative Rules. A binding requirement, regulation, or procedure that is formally adopted by:
- The City Administrator pursuant to rule-making authority granted by the Charter or delegated by the Council; or,
- The Auditor pursuant to rule-making authority granted by the Charter or delegated by the Council.
This definition excludes Bureau Policies. An administrative rule must be labeled as or state in its text that it is an administrative rule.
- The City Administrator pursuant to rule-making authority granted by the Charter or delegated by the Council; or,
There are two historic types of policies that are still included in the Portland Policy Documents, and now fall under the City Administrator's authority:
- Administrative Rules Adopted by the Bureau Pursuant to Rulemaking Authority. Adopted by the Bureau pursuant to authority expressly delegated by City Council, these are binding requirements, regulations, or procedures which affect citizens or all City employees.
- Administrative Rules Adopted by City Council. Adopted by City Council Ordinance or Resolution, these rules are binding requirements, regulations, or procedures which affect citizens or all City employees.
The following types of documents are not considered Portland Policy Documents:
- City Code. The City Code is maintained separately by the City Auditor. However, administrative rules currently contained in the City Code should eventually be moved to the new PPD. (Example: Title 4 Personnel was repealed when HR Rules were enacted).
- Comprehensive Plan Policy. Comprehensive plan policies are organized and maintained within the framework of the City's Comprehensive Plan.
- Bureau Policies or Work Rules. Unlike Administrative Rules, these policies do not have a binding effect on all City employees or the general citizen population.
Steps to Create a Portland Policy Document
If you are a City staff member, contact the Policy Editor for guidance.
- Authorizing Ordinance or Resolution goes into effect, or the City Administrator adopts or amends Administrative Rules.
- City staff submit updates to the Auditor's Office for inclusion in the PPD. All documents required to be in the PPD must be filed with Auditor within two weeks of adoption. Contact the Policy Editor for more guidance.
- The Auditor publishes PPDs in the online repository per Portland City Code Chapter 1.07. Policies and rules will be indexed according to the Indexing System described below.
Organization of Portland Policy Documents
Indexing System
Each Portland Policy Document is assigned a unique alphanumeric document code number by the Auditor's Office. This document number is based on the classification category, subcategory, and policy or rule number. For example, the FY 2001-02 Supplemental Budget has the following document code number: FIN-1.01. Policies are also labelled with their policy type, e.g. Binding City Policy.
| Indexing Item | Example | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Category | "FIN" | represents a Financial Policy |
| Subcategory | "1" | represents the first subcategory |
| Number | ".01" | represents the rule number in this subcategory |
| Type | "BCP" | Displayed as a label on each policy, indicates the type of policy and relevant authority. |
Classification Categories
City Code Section 1.07.040 authorizes the City Auditor to organize the PPD by subject matter. Policies and rules filed for inclusion in the PPD are assigned by the Auditor to a classification category. Classification categories are based on the general subject matter of the document. The letter-based prefix system allows for flexibility and provides easy identification of policy categories. The Auditor will amend the category listing as necessary to provide for future growth.
| Category | Prefix |
|---|---|
| Administration | ADM |
| Adopted Rules for the Auditor's Office | ARA |
| Arts & Culture | ART |
| Economy | ECN |
| Emergency Management | EMG |
| Environment - Built | ENB |
| Environment - Natural | ENN |
| Finance | FIN |
| FPDR Administrative Rules | FPD |
| Portland Fire & Rescue | FIR |
| Housing | HOU |
| Human Resources Administrative Rules | HRAR |
| Human Resources Policies | BHR |
| Licensing and Income Taxes | LIC |
| Parks and Recreation | PRK |
| Police Directives | Managed by Portland Police Bureau |
| Public Contracting Rules | PCR |
| Public Safety | PSF |
| Technology Services | BTS |
| Transportation | TRN |
| Utilities | UTL |
Change Log for Indexing Procedure
The Auditor is authorized to create an index system for the PPD by Code Section 1.07.040 and to provide for a standardized format of the PPD by Code Section 1.07.070.
December 2022: The Auditor changed the indexing system for the Human Resources Adopted Rules for the Auditor's Office "AUHR" and administratively renumbered under the Adopted Rules for the Auditor's Office "ARA"
October, 2012: The Auditor changed the indexing system for the Human Resources Administrative Rules from "BHR" to "HRAR".
April, 2003: The Auditor changed the indexing system for human resource/personnel related policies and administrative rules from "PER" to "BHR". The category name was also changed from "Personnel" to "Human Resources".
Historical Records
Previous versions of Portland Policy Documents and repealed policies can be accessed through Efiles.
Search for Portland Policy Document Records
- Click the link above
- Press “Search” to browse online Portland Policy Document Records
- Open up each eFolder to see all available revisions of the Portland Policy Documents for that category.
- The date on the right-hand side of each document indicates when that revision was made effective.