The $4 billion budget approved by Multnomah County leaders for the fiscal year that starts July 1 cuts at least 100 staff positions, including some that are currently vacant.
It isn’t yet clear how many county workers will be laid off. Commissioners approved a rush of budget amendments at the last minute, and some employees can transfer to a different job if their current position is cut.
On June 10, two days before the budget was approved, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 88 sent a letter to county chair Jessica Vega Pederson and the four county commissioners, urging them to find alternatives to layoffs. The letter was signed by 873 AFSCME Local 88 members and suggested cutting consultant contracts, reducing non-personnel costs, and using general fund reserves.
Local 88 President Jackie Tate said the proposed layoffs hit across departments and programs.
“We didn’t want to take a stand that would pit one program against other programs and employees,” Tate told the Labor Press. The union’s advocacy focused on urging the county to avoid any layoffs of represented staff.
Local 88 represents 4,000 of the county’s nearly 6,000 employees.
A county press release described the budget as making “painful tradeoffs” as the county confronts its largest spending gap in a decade. Reduced property tax revenue and increased personnel costs led to a $15.5 million shortfall in the county’s general fund.
“Our goal was for the county to look at all the different ways that they’re spending money, and to prioritize saving represented staff above all. So looking at management COLA, looking at administrative costs, looking at consultants and consultant fees, looking at the expansion of the executive branch and the chair’s office and the COO’s (Chief Operating Officer’s) office, which were incredibly highly paid positions,” Tate said.
On June 12, the day the board approved the budget, the commissioners made cuts to staff in Vega Pederson’s office, the chief operating officer’s office, and the county’s complaint investigation unit.
In total, the county board of commissioners approved 29 amendments to the budget proposed by Vega Pederson.
Tate said current county commissioners have been supportive of the union, including Meghan Moyer and Shannon Singleton, union-backed candidates who took office in January. Julia Brim-Edwards, who took office in 2023, is often asking questions in board meetings that Local 88 also wants to ask.
“She’s really questioning the chair and how things work and priorities, and I think things that before would have just gone unquestioned are being questioned — and I appreciate that,” Tate said.
Commissioners have been critical of the county’s budget process, which consistently feels rushed. Tate said the budget process has been volatile and hard on employees.
