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Posted on 07/12/2025 4:55:16 PM PDT by NoLibZone
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – A new report puts a price tag on just how much money is being spent on the homeless in the Portland metro area, and it isn’t small.
A report by ECOnorthwest found more than $724 million was spent in 2024, with that money going to safety, supportive housing and housing placement — along with administrative costs.
The funding comes from local, regional, state, and federal resources to serve the tri-county area of Multnomah, Washington and Clackamas counties.
According to the report, 43% came from a regional homeless services tax and 14% came from federal dollars. Additionally, the City of Portland contributed the most for the 9% in city contributions, the state offered 5%, and private philanthropy accounted for another 6%
Multnomah County contributed 10% while Washington and Clackamas counties did not.
Most of the funding went toward services for people in Multnomah County, totaling $501 million. This was followed by $135.7 million for Washington County and $87.5 million for Clackamas County.
The report says, “To maximize impact, the region must connect spending to results. That means tracking key outcomes — such as housing placements, retention rates, and reductions in unsheltered homelessness — and using that information to inform funding decisions.”
John Tapogna with ECOnorthwest echoed the sentiment that more needs to be done to maximize the efficiency of every dollar spent on this issue.
“We really haven’t gotten to the point where we can start to look at all these different approaches that we’re taking, look at the spending that’s associated with this and really figure out what’s the most productive use of those resources,” Tapogna said. “That’s increasingly important right now because the growth of these dollars has plateaued.”
In addition, uncertain funding outlooks at the local and federal levels are exacerbating the issue.
“The outlook for federal dollars is not great. Frankly, general fund dollars coming out of the City of Portland and Multnomah County, those are going to have constraints going forward because property tax revenues are not growing in the way that they have in the past,” Tapogna said.
The goal of the report was to promote transparency, and ECOnorthwest recommends the region take a look at its homelessness spending every year or every other year.
Multnomah County Board Chair Jessica Vega Pederson released the following statement in reaction to the ECOnorthwest report:
“This report represents the magnitude of need in our region to help people who are experiencing homelessness find a permanent home of their own.
The high cost of living is pushing more and more people into homelessness at the same time that federal and state funding streams are dwindling. This is a challenge that will require continued collaboration at the regional level – building off partnerships like the Homeless Response System that is currently providing a home and shelter for more people who had been living on our streets than ever before. We remain steadfast in meeting the public expectation that our regional governments will work together to reverse the growing tide of people who fall into homelessness every day.”
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