Portland Parks & Recreation faces both an infrastructure and operational funding crisis that requires hundreds of millions of dollars to address, according to a report released by the City Auditors Office on Wednesday, Oct. 15.
“Because the maintenance backlog is so large, some assets will fail regardless of how much funding Parks raises in the next 10 years. Parks also reported an operational funding gap, meaning it has not secured long-term funding for many of the programs and services it currently offers,” reads the report, titled, “Parks Fiscal Management: Systemwide goals and sustainability strategies needed to ensure parks for future generations.”
The report was released less than three weeks before the Nov. 4 general election where Portland voters are asked to approve a five-year property tax levy to maintain current operations. If it fails, the City Council may be forced to cut 50% of PP&R’s general fund budget in the fiscal year that begins on July 1, 2026. That could cause parks and community centers across the city to close, an even bigger problem that predicted in the report.
“This audit highlights long-standing financial challenges that predate Portland’s new government structure. The proposed Parks Levy was crafted by City Council to address those concerns — with stronger accountability, direct Council oversight, and a requirement for a long-term financial plan. Supporting the levy means protecting parks while making the system more transparent and sustainable,” said Jessica Green, chair of the Portlanders for Parks campaign supporting Measure 26-260.
According to the report, PP&R has not taken a systematic approach to identify, evaluate, and implement cost-saving, revenue-generating, or service-reduction strategies. As a result, it has not given decision-makers critical information needed to make the parks system fiscally sustainable over the long term.
“With long-term uncertainty, Portlanders may approach every budget cycle worried that their favorite local park, community center or program is under threat.”
Among other things, the report also found that PP&R initiated new or improvement capital construction project without identifying the funds to maintain them in the future, adding to a deferred maintenance deficit of up to $800 million.
An example cited in the report is up to $3.6 million in improvements approved for University Park, Columbia Park, and the Columbia Park Annex in North Portland. They include the Charles Jordan Community Center, the primary field for the North Portland Little League Organization, a soccer and football field, playgrounds, picnic areas and more amenities. The improvements are to be funded by System Development Charges imposed on new construction projects and did not require council approval.
“Parks committed to funding the construction of new assets without identifying a funding source for its ongoing maintenance. As a result, the City added assets it cannot afford,” the report said.
Parks levy supporters hopeful
The proposed levy is Ballot Measure 26-260. Although Portland voters have repeatedly approved PP&R measures in the past, its passage is not guaranteed. To maintain the current level of service, the council is asking voters to increase the property tax rate by 75%, from 80 cents to $1.40 per $1,000 of assessed value. The median homeowner would pay about $310 a year, and the median commercial property owner would pay around $440 annually. That would raise $86 million in the levy’s first year and an average of $91 million over the full five years. The measure dedicates $1.37 to operations and 3 cents to capital projects.
The campaign to pass the levy is being run by Portlanders for Parks, the political action committee that supported the current voter-approved levy that expires at the end of this fiscal year. A broad-based coalition of community, environmental, labor and business organizations are backing the measure.
“This kind of broad-based support demonstrates that our parks are important to every Portlander. At a time when so many issues seem to divide us, the Portland Parks Levy stands out for the extensive and diverse support it has earned throughout the community and across the political spectrum. There’s solid agreement that Portland parks play a critical role in the livability and success of our city,” Green said in the Sept. 25 campaign kick-off announcement. She is also the executive director of the Portland Parks Foundation.
All council members have endorsed the measure except District 2 Councilor Dan Ryan. He does not oppose the measure, but has reservations that align with the auditor’s report.
“Portland’s Parks Bureau must diversify revenue beyond property taxes by pursuing innovative partnerships and philanthropic support. I need clear signs of culture change — like moving forward with the Tennis Center Partnership or similar models that tackle deferred maintenance and mirror successes in peer districts — before I can fully endorse placing a higher tax burden on Portlanders,” Ryan said.
“I support a parks system that serves families, kids, and elders, but I’ve seen a culture resistant to change. With new commitments to openness, collaboration, and private partnerships, I’ll be ready to stand 100% behind the proposed parks levy.”
What’s next?
The report made four recommendations for improving PP&R’s performance. They include: the development of systemwide goals informed by maintenance obligations of the current system and basing new investment proposals on those goals; developing a fiscal sustainability plan that details the identification and evaluation of fiscal sustainability strategies, including an action plan for implementation; communicating the scope and impact of cost-saving actions to the public; and creating funding plans for estimated major maintenance and lifecycle costs.
In response, City Administrator Michael Jordan agreed with the recommendations and said the voter-approved changes in Portland’s form of government that took effect on Jan. 1, 2025, will help accomplish them.
Until then, city bureaus were supervised by individual commissioners who could authorize projects without full council approval. Now all bureaus are under the management of the administrator. The new 12-member has already directed him to develop a long-term maintenance plan for all city assets, Jordan wrote in his Oct. 10 response letter.
“With Portland’s new form of government, and recent City Council stated commitments to longer-term sustainable investment planning and implementation, I am optimistic about the future for Portland’s critical infrastructure. Our past has been challenging, including chronic insufficient levels of investment for capital maintenance, and capital investment decisions led by successive Commissioners-in-Charge,” Jordan said.
The PP&R audit can be found at here.
A previous North Peninsula Review story on the PP&R levy can be found here.