Parks Budget Process

Information
Thomas Cully Park playground
The City of Portland develops an annual budget. That means, every year, every bureau works with their Commissioner’s Office to develop a Requested Budget that is submitted to the City Budget Office and the Mayor.
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General Budget Process Overview

Once the Mayor develops his Proposed Budget for the entire City of Portland and works with City Council, all bureaus, and the community to finalize the budget, City Council formally adopts the budget in June.

Portland Parks & Recreation begins its budget process in October, eight months before the budget is adopted. The Parks budget process goes from October through February when we submit our Requested Budget to the City Budget Office. Then, a process led by City Council begins.  

Parks uses several points of information to develop our Requested Budget. These include:

FY 2024-25 Budget Advisory Committee (BAC) Roster

Portland Parks & Recreation Board Representatives
Bonnie Gee Yosick, Chair, Financial Sustainability Working Group
Jonathan Beckhart
Suenn Ho
John Casey Mills
Elana Pirtle-Guiney

Labor Representatives
Bill Crawford, CPPW
Luis Flores, Portland City Laborers (PCL)
Martin Nicholson, Protec17 (PTE17)
Leina'ala Slaughter, Labors Local 483 - Recreation

Community Representatives
Jessica Green, Portland Parks Foundation
Leah Plack, Urban Forestry Commission
Megan Van de Mark, Urban Forestry Commission

Office of Commissioner Ryan
Mark Jamieson

Glossary

Commonly used terms appearing in the budget process for Portland Parks & Recreation

ASSET
A property, building, piece of equipment – something owned by Portland Parks & Recreation. Examples include buildings, picnic shelters, play structures, benches, lawnmowers, etc.

CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROJECT
A project that helps maintain or improve a city asset and is valued at $10,000 or more.

CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN (CIP)
A five-year work plan that lists construction, major maintenance, and improvement projects.

CENTRAL SERVICES
A workgroup within Portland Parks & Recreation. This group includes painters, carpenters, electricians, etc.

COST RECOVERY
The percentage of the program's cost (for example, swim lessons) is covered by what the user pays.

ENTERPRISE FUNDS
The cost of providing the service is covered by people who use the service. No General Fund money can be used to support these programs. Enterprise funds include the Golf and Portland International Raceway Funds.

EQUITY AND INCLUSION
A program in PP&R that supports the bureau’s service delivery in identifying and addressing barriers that keep communities of color, immigrants and refugees, and those with different abilities from accessing Portland Parks & Recreation programs, services, and employment opportunities.

GENERAL FUND
In government, the government's primary fund that is not assigned for any specific purpose and can be spent by the City Council at their discretion for any purpose. It primarily comes from Property Taxes and Business License Fees.

GENERAL FUND SUBSIDY
The amount of money provided by the City of Portland (taxes) that covers the cost of providing a service. Using parks is free to everyone – PP&R pays 100% of the cost of covering that service. Community Centers charge fees – the user pays for some of the cost of the service – PP&R pays the remainder through a General Fund Subsidy.

FULL-SERVICE COMMUNITY CENTER
A community center that contains a swimming pool, a fitness center, and a gym.

KEY PERFORMANCE MEASURE
How we determine whether or not we have been effective and/or accomplished our goals.

MAJOR MAINTENANCE
Fixing assets that are beyond daily care or routine maintenance (for example, re-roofing a building). Repairs, replacements or renovations that bring assets up to meet regulatory or service level needs, or to extend their useful life.

OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE
The ongoing work plan to operate, repair and provide routine maintenance of new parks and natural areas that are placed into service.

ONE-TIME REVENUES
Money coming into the City of Portland that we cannot count on for the long term. We don’t know if we will continue to receive this money for more than one year.

ONGOING REVENUES
Money coming into the City of Portland that we can plan on for five years or more.

PARKS BOND
Bond funds are approved by voters. In 2014, voters approved a $68 million Bond for Portland Parks & Recreation to use for major maintenance and repairs.

REALIGNMENT PACKAGE
Moving resources from one program to another, generally moving the money to a higher priority or creating a more efficient way to do the work.

SUMMER FREE FOR ALL
Activities provided in partnership with the community from June to August, including; movies, concerts, playground activities, and free lunches. These programs are provided throughout the city.

SUSTAINABLE LANDSCAPE INITIATIVE
Long-term plan to change the types of plants in our parks to plants that need less care and maintenance. Additionally, it involves changing our maintenance practices regarding irrigation, mowing, etc.

SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT CHARGES
Fees paid by developers that help the City of Portland address the impacts of new development. A new apartment building may have 100 new residents – they will use the roads, want parks, and need water and sewer service. Parks SDC funds are used to build new parks, buy land for future development, or improve the usefulness of a current park.