Salem city councilors will hold a public hearing on Monday to finalize an amended version of the city’s 2026 budget that keeps city services intact after voters accepted a property tax increase on May 20. 

The original budget proposal included deep cuts and did not factor in the revenue expected to come from the levy. With the passage of the levy those cuts will be avoided, and an amended budget was recommended by the Salem budget committee on May 28. 

The amended budget adds three new employees to the city library. That will allow library hours to expand back to 2023 levels, from 38 hours a week to 48 hours a week at the main branch and from 10 hours a week to 20 hours a week at the West Salem branch. 

The expansion will come after new employees are hired, and city officials haven’t given an expected date.

Councilors are required to hold a public hearing before formally adopting the new budget later this month on June 23. The amended budget will then go into effect on July 1. 

Members of the public are encouraged to give public testimony on the recommended budget at the upcoming public hearing. 

Paid parking shift downtown 

Councilors will vote on an ordinance that will establish time limits of up to 12 hours for paid parking downtown, and the elimination of the free 3-hour free street parking. The new paid parking system downtown begins on July 10. 

The new parking system would require drivers to put in their licence plate numbers at the new pay stations that will be installed downtown. The system will keep track of the license plate numbers and parking enforcement officers will be able to check electronically for compliance. 

Short-term parking in city-owned downtown garages will remain free. Those parkades have 2,045 spots. 

The city plans to phase out an annual tax paid by downtown businesses which funds street and garage parking. 

City officials say the new changes are intended to generate money that can be used to pay for a downtown cleaning time, beautification downtown and security patrols in parking garages.

The revenue currently coming from the downtown parking tax and permit fees is not enough to cover the increased costs of operating the Downtown Parking District, established in 1976. 

Such revenue has decreased in recent years due to closures of Nordstrom, JCPenney and TJ Maxx, as well as more people working remotely. The tax also hasn’t kept pace with inflation, according to a Salem City Council report.

Downtown parking taxes brought in around $345,000 last year.

More money on Civic Center seismic retrofit 

The Salem City Council will also vote on whether to spend an extra $1 million on the Salem Civic Center seismic retrofit project, which is getting underway this summer.

The extra $1 million is from bond premiums or money generated from the sale of bonds. 

The $42 million project is being paid for largely through an infrastructure tax measure voters approved in 2022. 

According to a staff report from Chief Financial Officer Josh Eggleston, additional costs have come up as the seismic retrofit project has progressed. 

Some of those additional costs include an emergency generator, signage, and a permit application center counter among other amenities. 

The total price tag for the improvements is nearly $5 million. 

Pedestrian safety grants

City officials are seeking federal money to improve pedestrian crossings around Salem. If councilors sign off Monday, the city will apply for up to $10 million from the U.S. 

Department of Transportation.

The money would come from the Safe Streets and Roads for All program and would require the city to match the funds by 20%, a staff report from Public Works Director Brian Martin said.

The matching funds could come from the 2022 infrastructure bond, the report said. 

The city’s list of locations for pedestrian crossing improvements is a refined list from a federal application which was denied last year. The proposed locations for improvements include:

• Northeast D Street at Northeast 14 Street near North Salem High School
• Northeast 17 Street at Northeast B Street
• Northeast 17 Street at Northeast Madison Street 
• Northeast Market Street at Northeast 25 Street 
• Northeast Market Street at Northeast Childs Avenue 
• Northeast D Street at Northeast Evergreen Avenue
• Northeast Hawthorne Avenue between Northeast Market Street and Northeast Center Street 
• Northeast Lancaster Drive at Northeast Cypress Street 
• Northeast Lancaster Drive between Northeast Wolverine Street and Northeast Sunnyview Road
• Northeast Hollywood Drive between Northeast Snowberry Street and Northeast Roselawn Drive near McKay High School 
• Northeast Market Street at Northeast Clay Street 
• Northeast Sunnyview Road at Northeast Greentree Drive  

Other items

• Councilors will vote on whether or not to declare a public need to acquire the easements around Southeast Waldo Avenue and Southeast Wildwind Drive for the purposes of a sewer rehabilitation project, a staff report from Martin said. The sewer rehab will include about 1,050 feet of failing 6-inch concrete pipe and 515 feet of 8-inch concrete pipe installed in the 1950s. The project was authorized by council on February 24 after a sewer failure earlier in the winter. The city already has access to the majority of the area required to finish the work and construction is slated to occur starting August and run through September. 
• Councilors will also vote on authorizing a lease extension and rent increase for space at the Salem-Willamette Valley Airport used by the National Weather Service, according to a staff report from Martin. The weather service currently pays $8,040 a year in rent for a 236 square foot space at the airport. The lease was signed in 2015 and expires this year. The extension would increase the annual rent to $8,281 for the next five years, and to $8,530 a year for the five year period after that. 
• Councilors will also vote on whether to adopt a resolution authorizing the city to receive roughly $2 million from the State of Oregon to offset the costs of police patrols on state owned properties in Salem, according to a staff report from Eggleston. The funds come from a state revenue sharing program which earmarks 14% of state liquor revenues to cities, according to city documents.

Contact reporter Joe Siess: [email protected] or 503-335-7790.

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