Should Portland approve the Mt. Hood Cable Regulatory Commission FY 2025-26 Fund Budget?

The City of Portland is a party to an intergovernmental agreement with Multnomah County and the cities of Gresham, Fairview, Troutdale, and Wood Village, dated December 24, 1992, as modified by subsequent amendments, creating the Mt. Hood Cable Regulatory Commission (“MHCRC”) for the purposes of:Advocating for and protecting the public interest in the regulation and development of communications systems;Monitoring and helping resolve subscribers' concerns; andFacilitating the planning and implementation of community uses of communications technologies.The MHCRC contracts for staff and other support services through a separate services agreement with the City of Portland. The MHCRC funds an equivalent of 4.35 full-time equivalent (FTE) staff positions in the City’s Bureau of Planning and Sustainability, plus related materials, services, financial and administrative costs.The Intergovernmental Agreement (“IGA”) establishes the responsibilities and powers of the MHCRC, including the process for member jurisdictions’ approval of the MHCRC’s annual budget. Under the terms of the IGA:The MHCRC transmits its adopted fiscal year budget to the jurisdictions for approval; andEach jurisdiction annually contributes funding to the operations of the MHCRC as determined during the annual budget process through a cost allocation methodology.The MHCRC adopted the FY 2025-26 Fund Budget, FY 2025-26 Goals and Objectives (respectively document Exhibit A) at its May 19, 2025, Regular Meeting. About 35% of the MHCRC operating budget is funded by the jurisdictions’ allocations and the remaining by other MHCRC resources. The City of Portland cost allocation for the FY 2025-26 operating budget is $355,622, which is the MHCRC Special Appropriation amount contained in the City of Portland Council FY 2025-26 budget. The City’s cost allocation represents 65% of the total jurisdictional allocations to the budget with 35% provided by the East County jurisdictions.Nearly all the MHCRC’s resources are funds collected from the cable companies in the form of franchise fees from revenue earned within the MHCRC member jurisdiction areas and public benefit fees (referred to as “PEG/I-Net fees” in the franchise) county-wide. The expenditures are disbursements, governed by the IGA and restricted for certain purposes under the cable services franchise agreements, to:East County Jurisdictions (franchise fee balance);Community media providers (MetroEast Community Media for both operating and capital funds; and Open Signal for capital funds);Community Technology Grants to support nonprofits’, schools’, library’s, and local governments’ video production technology needsFor more detail on the MHCRC budget, see document Exhibit A: Proposed MHCRC FY 2025-26 Fund Budget.

The reviewed sources do not clearly identify every existing policy, service, contract, or obligation that would remain unchanged.

This proposal concerns land use & permitting and requires action through Portland’s public legislative process.

The MHCRC has a Finance Committee, which developed the draft FY 2025-26 budget at their May 1 meeting, and the full MHCRC adopted the budget at its May 19, 2025, regular meeting. Each member jurisdiction considers budget approval at a city council or County Commission meeting.