June 9, 2025
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Maria Sipin
Councilor Green Proposes 2% EMS Spending Cut to Fund Critical Community Priorities
Portland, OR – Portland City Councilor Mitch Green filed a budget amendment this week, calling for a 2% reduction in External Materials and Services (EMS) spending across all City bureaus. The estimated $1.5 million in savings would be redirected to fund urgent, unfunded community priorities, including enhanced renter protections, arts programs (including Portland Center Stage), downtown public space activation, expanding Portland Street Response, and keeping vital programs for parks and recreation running. The amendment includes budget items from several councilors who are interested in one-time funds to these unfunded programs for this fiscal year.
The amendment comes amid an exceptionally challenging budget cycle marked by projected shortfalls. Councilor Green framed the measure as a necessary, though imperfect, step to identify funding for essential services without raising taxes, while acknowledging the city’s structural revenue problems.
Targeting "Ballooning" EMS Spending
Green’s proposal specifically targets EMS budgets, which encompass spending on outside consultants, contractors, and purchased services. Green cited a concerning trend of increasing reliance on these external resources.
“As we started to dig into previous years’ budgets, it became very clear that EMS budgets are ballooning across City bureaus,” stated Councilor Green. “This trend of increasing reliance on outside consultants and contractors is disturbing for several reasons. It’s bad for labor because too often these contracts are replacing unionized positions, it’s expensive, and it diminishes public sector capacity to solve our own problems. We need to be moving in the opposite direction.”
Modest Cut, Major Community Impact
Councilor Green emphasized that a 2% reduction represents a modest, across-the-board approach, designed to minimize disruption while generating meaningful revenue for programs with clear public benefits. He also acknowledged that he would have preferred to suggest more precise cuts, but that the data he would need to do so isn’t provided to Council offices.
“The unfortunate reality is that the data we receive from bureaus simply isn’t granular enough to get more prescriptive. What we do know is that EMS budgets have grown, and that’s a problem.”
Balancing Revenue and Spending
While advocating for the EMS cuts, Councilor Green reiterated the long-term need for increased City revenue, while stressing the immediate necessity of spending discipline.
“We absolutely need to look at ways to raise new revenue,” Green affirmed. “But we also need to get some of our spending under control. We’re on track to have yet another major budget shortfall next year, and this measure is a step in the right direction. Council is facing some very tough choices, but we can’t just throw our hands up and say finding funding for essential programs is too hard. We need to get creative, scrutinize every dollar, and prioritize direct services that benefit Portlanders who are struggling right now.”
The amendment will be considered by the full City Council at their budget meetings on June 10 and 11. Councilor Green urges Portlanders who support redirecting funds from external contracts to community programs and services to contact their councilors and sign up to testify.
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