On April 24th, Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson released her FY2026 Executive Budget and executive budget letter. This was a difficult budget that required making difficult tradeoffs to prioritize direct services for those who rely on the County most. This includes a focus on services for children and families, rent assistance and homeless services, substance use and mental health treatment, and community safety services. 

The release of this executive budget kicks off seven weeks of public work sessions with the Board of County Commissioners and County staff. The Board will also host three public hearings for members of the community to comment on the County’s operating and capital budgets:

• Wednesday, May 14, 6 to 8 p.m., Multnomah Building Boardroom, 501 S.E. Hawthorne Blvd., in Portland.

• Wednesday, May 21, 6 to 8 p.m., East Multnomah Building, 600 N.E. 8th St., #300, in Gresham.

• Wednesday, May 28, 6 to 8 p.m., Virtual-only. Find more information about the public hearings at the Multnomah County Budget Office.  

Please consider further engagement with our budget process - anyone can sign up to testify or leave a comment through the Chair’s Budget page as a next step. 

If you would like to learn more about the Chair's decisions and/or need help preparing for these hearings, consider signing up for our May 3rd community budget engagement training that our office is offering, in partnership with the County Office of Community Involvement and the Coalition of Communities of Color.

Also, thank you to the 4,000+ people who engaged with our annual budget survey! Results are available at this dashboard.

Sincerely,

Sara Ryan & An Bui

Chair's Office Budget Engagement Team