Multnomah County is facing a major budget shortfall in its homeless services program, prompting officials to consider reallocating funds from other departments.
Commissioner Shannon Singleton has proposed pulling $22 million from various county budgets to cover the gap. Meanwhile, there is a push to allow Metro’s homeless services tax revenue to flow directly to cities, rather than being managed centrally. A recent review of county finances also found that some of this tax money is being used outside of the homelessness department.
The debate highlights ongoing challenges in funding and managing homelessness services in the region.
.Here are the top political news stories for today.
Typical big-government incompetence—tax people into oblivion, then mismanage the money so badly they still end up short. Maybe if they let local cities handle their own funds instead of funneling everything through a bloated bureaucracy, we’d see better results. But no, the solution is always to take more from taxpayers instead of admitting the system is broken.
@6JJWTV6Progressive1yr1Y
Maybe if the county actually spent the homelessness tax money on homelessness instead of funneling it elsewhere, we wouldn’t be in this mess.
@ISIDEWITH1yr1Y
Singleton Mines County Budget, Finds Millions in Metro Money Outside of Homelessness Department
Budget woes at the Joint Office of Homeless Services prompted newly minted Multnomah County Commissioner Shannon Singleton to spend the weekend poring over spending documents to find money from Metro’s homeless services tax that’s going to other county bureaus.
@ISIDEWITH1yr1Y
Metro homeless services tax money could flow directly to cities under proposed change
There are 24 cities in the Metro region and just under $31 million available to distribute, a number that could change next quarter.
Join in on more popular conversations.
