Should Portland approve one year extension of funding for Portland Children’s Levy that reflects lower revenues for FY 2025-26?

The City of Portland ordains.Section 1. The Council finds: The City proposed and voters approved a local option property tax levy at the November 5, 2002, general election to fund programs to help children in Portland. The levy created the Portland Children’s Levy (PCL) to make targeted investments in proven programs.In May 2023 voters approved a fourth renewal of the local property tax levy to continue supporting the PCL to invest in proven programs in the areas of early childhood, child abuse prevention and intervention, foster care, after-school, mentoring and hunger relief. A five-person citizen Allocation Committee was created to make recommendations regarding the expenditure of levy funds.On April 23, 2025, the Allocation Committee voted to make recommendations to fund early childhood, child abuse prevention and intervention, foster care, hunger relief, afterschool, and mentoring programs.Council remanded the recommendations to the PCL for further consideration. Council intends to allow continuation of current funding, allowing the Director of PCL to adjust current funding proportionately to reflecting lower revenues of the PCL for FY 2025-2026, while allowing the remand process to be considered.NOW, THEREFORE, the Council directs:The Director of PCL is authorized and directed to enter into grant agreements, which shall be effective as of July 1, 2025, with all grantees on the current PCL allocation schedule for a period not to exceed 12 months to avoid a stoppage of PCL programs in the FY25-26 period while the remand process for PCL allocations is conducted.The Director is authorized and directed to allocate current grantees the current annual grant amount, each decreased by an equal percentage of no more than 25% of the current funding for respective organizations to reflect an expected decrease in FY 2025-2026 revenues.In the event that any grantee becomes unwilling or unable to use City grant funds in a manner consistent with a grant agreement that is authorized by this ordinance, the Director is hereby authorized to terminate the grant agreement in accordance with its terms.Section 2. The Council declares that an emergency exists in order to avoid a disruption in funding for this important work; therefore, this Ordinance shall be in full force and effect from and after its passage by the Council.