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Date ArticleType
3/26/2024 Member News

HBA Shapes Portland Permitting Office Budget Negotiations


Following several quarters of construction slowdown in Portland, the Bureau of Development Services (the city’s primary permitting agency) saw a significant reduction in revenue and was forced to layoff 72 employees in December. This was the city’s first attempt to stem the tide of BDS’ rapidly shrinking reserves, and help to stabilize its budget. However, that has proven insufficient as further talks of layoffs remain probable if further action is not taken. While in the past year Portland has achieved significant strides in improving a historically dysfunctional permitting agency, there is concern among the industry that further layoffs would derail that progress and return to an era of months-long wait times for residential permits. To help prevent this, HBA and a coalition of partners entered into discussion with city leaders to form a plan that would stabilize budgets, prevent further layoffs, and create new efficiency measures to existing operations. As part of these conversations, our proposal includes a $6 million general fund allocation, a modest agency-wide fee increase, and implementation of new efficiency tools like self-certification, third-party reviews, and permitting “shot-clock” deadlines. While this plan is still being vetted, we are confident that City Council and BDS leadership will develop an equitable proposal that includes new investments that incentivizes new housing production.