Portland City Manager Presents Recommended FY21 Municipal Budget To Council’s Finance Committee

Press release from the City of Portland:

August 5, 2020

Portland City Manager Jon Jennings will present his recommended FY21 municipal budget to the Council’s Finance Committee tonight during a remote meeting at 5:30 PM. Agenda and Zoom information can be found at www.portlandmaine.gov/agendas.

After initially preparing a budget pre COVID-19 with only a 1.8% tax increase, City Manager Jennings set out to create a new FY21 budget with a goal of no property tax rate increase as everyone deals with these difficult economic times. Ultimately, the new recommended budget includes a property tax rate decrease of one cent.

Given the significant revenue losses the City has faced in light of the pandemic, the City took several measures to reduce expenditures. Despite getting some federal and state COVID-relief funds, the recommended budget includes cuts to services and positions given continued revenue losses combined with increasing costs outside of the City’s control.

Read the City Manager’s full budget letter, here. Finance Director Brendan O’Connell will also make a presentation at tonight’s Committee meeting.

After tonight, the Finance Committee will continue review of the FY21 budget on August 6, August 12, and September 2 before the budget is expected to head to the full Council on September 9 and 21 with a Council workshop on September 14.

This press release was produced by the City of Portland. The views expressed here are the author’s own.