Move Clean Energy Dollars into General Fund
The Oregonian/OregonLive reports that the Portland Clean Energy Fund has a current balance of more than $920 million (“Portland eyes using clean energy fund, again, as budget shortfall looms,” Mar. 13). Yet the city also claims it’s facing a budget shortfall of $150 million.
It’s time that the Portland City Council declared the PCEF experiment over. All it takes is seven councilors to vote to move all PCEF money into the city’s general fund. This would immediately solve Portland’s budget woes and provide a reserve for future years.
We elected a 12-member City Council to make the difficult decisions. Moving PCEF into the general fund is not one of them.
If councilors believe that so-called clean energy projects are a city priority, they should compete for general fund money along with other priorities, such as public safety, road maintenance and reducing homelessness.