What’s getting cut, what got funding as Salem council votes on final budget
Salem will see longer waits for repairs on park swing sets and water fountains, and seniors won’t be able to spend as much time at Center 50+ under the city’s final budget proposal for the next year.
The city’s proposed 2024-25 budget, which the Salem City Council will vote on adopting Monday night, calls for spending $725 million in the next year. That includes a $188 million general fund, which pays for most city operations.
The council first began discussing deep budget cuts last fall. City Manager Keith Stahley’s original proposal included closing the West Salem Branch library, minimal maintenance at parks and shuttering city-funded homeless services.
In the months since, alternate funding, dipping into savings and increased fees have fended off some of the deepest impacts for at least another year.
Councilors sit on the budget committee, which voted May 8 to recommend the budget after restoring some services, including splash pads, park events and library funding. Monday’s vote will finalize the budget ahead of the state’s July 1 deadline.
READ IT: Fiscal year 2025 budget
Here’s an overview of what’s being cut and what’s been restored.
Homeless services
The city will also pull all of its funding for micro shelters sites, which are run by Church at the Park under contract with the city. The shelters house 232 people, including families, at three sites. Their annual operations cost the city $4.2 million, and they were opened using one-time grants.
The organization has secured state funding to keep two of its three shelter sites open for another year, according to Gretchen Bennet, Salem’s homelessness liaison. Church at the Park leaders did not respond to multiple requests for comment over the past week seeking information about how its operations would be impacted or the operation of its remaining micro shelter site.
Library, splash pads, graffiti abatement restored
When the budget committee began meeting in March, the proposed budget included $1.2 million in cuts to the Salem Public Library, which would have laid off multiple staff and closed the West Salem Branch. The committee instead unanimously approved using savings from the city’s cultural and tourism fund, which comes from the lodging tax, to stave off the cuts for another year.
In split votes, the committee also opted to pull an additional $518,000 from the fund to keep splash pads, bathrooms and water fountains maintained and operational this summer, and also to continue programs like the Salem Kids Relays, and movies and concerts in Riverfront Park for another year.
They also approved spending $91,500 from the city’s savings to fund a graffiti abatement position that was set to be cut. The move means the city will have two police employees removing graffiti, rather than one.
Other cuts have been put off by using money from Salem’s share of a settlement with opioid manufacturers.
Cuts at Center 50+
Salem’s Center 50+ will close two Saturdays per month, charge more for classes and rely more on volunteers to absorb a $400,000 budget cut, of a total budget of $1.5 million.
About half the cuts, $200,000, will be met through increased program fees and fundraising, and the rest will come from reduced programming and hours, said Director Marilyn Daily.
Last year, the center’s programs served 13,000 people at its building at 2615 Portland Rd. N.E., and 8,500 through outreach and the Wellness on Wheels Van, Daily said.
“We do that with eight (full time employees), so the ratio is pretty impressive but the reason we’re able to do that is we have over 400 volunteers and they are not just envelope stuffers,” she said. “They are leading programs, they’re really working alongside our limited paid staff to leverage city dollars.”
Daily said they plan to maintain existing classes by using volunteer rather than contracted instructors when possible and making class sizes larger through mergers.
Center 50+ will also cut down evening and weekend opening hours. The building will be open the second and fourth Saturday of the month rather than every Saturday, Daily said.
At this point the changes to evening hours haven’t been defined yet, she said, and the center will still be open until 9 p.m. Monday-Thursday. But, if no scheduled group has booked the space it may close early rather than staying open for drop-in activities.
“We feel confident that our groups are going to fill in those times,” she said.
The Salem City Council approved the citywide fee schedule for the year on June 10, and the majority of Center 50+ fees are unchanged.
Changes include a 20% increase for room rentals, such as the lecture hall which will be $54 per hour rather than $45.
The program has also added a $30 annual pass for non-Salem residents, or a 20% surcharge for classes for non-Salem residents who don’t buy the pass.
Daily said that Friends of Center 50+ is tasked with raising more money this year, and will be asking the community for more support. The group organizes events like the Boot Scoot & Brew in September, and runs a boutique and cafe to raise funds. The group is being asked to nearly double its usual intake of around $75,000.
“We’re going to be evaluating and prioritizing and working with our volunteers to come up with a plan to maintain the programs that they love,” Daily said.
Daily said that Center 50+ serves a growing senior population in Salem. She said their work reduces the impact on other community expenses, like emergency services and healthcare.
“The impact of aging can be reduced by people staying healthy, engaged and connected to resources and services early,” she said.
Cuts to parks and recreation
Jennifer Kellar, the city’s parks and recreation division manager, said the department will be able to hire about half the seasonal staff they typically would during peak periods from the spring to fall.
That’s due to a budget cut of about $287,000 for parks operations, and $80,700 from recreation programs. About half of the cuts will be mitigated by increasing fees to use park facilities.
That’s less steep than the original budget proposal, which cut $709,000 from parks. The restored money means park restrooms will stay open this year, grass will be watered and splash pads have opened for the summer.
That will translate to less support for staff, who will have less time to do basic tasks. An example would be maintaining the area around trees once a month rather than every few weeks.
“The maintenance will occur, it may just be stretched a little bit further than typically would have been done,” Kellar said.
She said that ongoing and increased vandalism means there will be a limited ability to fix issues as they come up in the coming year.
They’ll also be trying to make picnic tables, benches, and water fountains last longer through repairs rather than replacements. They’ll prioritize safety hazards first, she said, followed by heavily used items.
Parks will also stop funding several types of staff certification and memberships, including tree top rescue training, cemetery and volunteer management, and some training from state and national groups, including the Oregon Park & Recreation Association and Western Native Plant Conference.
“They’re not required memberships, they’re obviously great for networking and for getting information to help with efficiencies and looking at how other jurisdictions are handling issues,” she said.
Cuts to recreation programs means reducing the number of places they’re held, like offering a summer camp at five parks instead of four.
“It’s not a drastic reduction, but all of those cumulatively together help kind of reduce our budget situation,” she said.
Facility use permits will be increased. Renting out Pringle Hall would cost $63 an hour Monday-Thursday rather than $60, and $151 per hour on weekends, an increase from $131.
CORRECTION: Center 50+ has a budget of $1.5 million in 2025, not $10.4 million. Salem Reporter apologizes for the error.
Contact reporter Abbey McDonald: [email protected] or 503-575-1251
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Abbey McDonald joined the Salem Reporter in 2022. She previously worked as the business reporter at The Astorian, where she covered labor issues, health care and social services. A University of Oregon grad, she has also reported for the Malheur Enterprise, The News-Review and Willamette Week.
