Portland City Council Community & Public Safety Committee 09/01/26
Council's bumping fire fees up to 27% but delayed the emergency clause so people get more time to complain. Meanwhile PPB says response times keep climbing even as 911 calls drop—90-100 officers are stuck in training and priority-one calls are up 20% since 2017. No decision made on fixing it; more hearings coming.
Summary
Fire fee increases and a fire code update both moved forward to full council, but the committee first stripped the emergency clause from the fee schedule so the public would get more time to weigh in. Fire Chief Lauren Johnson and Fire Marshal Carrie Schimel explained the fee increases of under 27 percent—the first comprehensive update since before 2012—are meant to improve cost recovery for the Fire Marshal's Office as personnel costs have risen 43 percent since 2020. Because the fees were already approved as part of this year's budget, councilors focused on process and transparency. Councilor Zimmerman voted against the fee schedule, saying the city should 'put our money where our mouth is' on reducing permitting costs, while Councilor Kanal successfully pushed to remove the emergency clause to allow first and second readings.
The second half of the meeting tackled why police response times keep rising even as overall 911 call volume falls. PPB's Deputy Chief Brian Hughes, Lieutenant Christy Butcher, and analyst Christian Peterson explained that priority-one calls (immediate danger to life) are up more than 20 percent since 2017-18, require more officers per call, and take far longer to resolve safely—illustrated by an 18-hour barricaded-subject incident. They also noted roughly 90-100 officers are currently in training and unavailable. The volunteer group Portland for All presented a competing analysis arguing that stable staffing and steady calls-per-officer ratios cannot fully explain the growing delays, pointing to a ballooning 'queue time' after calls are assigned but before an officer heads out. Councilor Smith questioned why a political-adjacent group was presenting, though the chair and Councilor Morillo confirmed the volunteer organization had no conflict of interest.
Councilors raised pointed questions about self-initiated calls (including traffic stops that disproportionately affect Black Portlanders), the number of officers responding to low-complexity incidents, the need to expand Portland Street Response for behavioral health calls, and why police—unlike Fire—have no mandatory overtime to meet minimum staffing. The committee agreed this is an ongoing conversation. PPB will provide additional data breakdowns, the police staffing cost report (accidentally dropped from the agenda due to a system error) will be rescheduled, and future hearings and a possible auditor review are expected.
Key Points
- Fire code and fee schedule updates were referred to full council, with the fee schedule's emergency clause removed to allow more public input
- Portland Police presented data on rising response times despite falling call volumes, attributing it to more complex high-priority calls and fewer available officers
- Portland for All presented independent analysis suggesting staffing levels alone cannot explain rising response times, calling for deeper investigation
Votes (3)
Amendment to Ordinance 2026-300 (Fire Fee Schedule)
Remove Section Two (the emergency clause) from the fire fee schedule ordinance to allow additional public engagement at the full council level
Referral of Ordinance 2026-301 (Fire Code Update)
Refer the fire code update adopting current Oregon Fire Code with city amendments to full council with a do-pass recommendation
Referral of Ordinance 2026-300 (Fire Fee Schedule, as amended)
Refer the amended fire fee schedule ordinance to full council with a do-pass recommendation
Action Items
- PPB to provide breakdown of self-initiated calls and deployment types to councilor offices, particularly Councilor Morillo
- PPB to produce data comparing officer-hours consumed by calls in 2019 versus 2025 for patrol officers specifically
- Councilor Smith to send the previously completed police response time report to Portland for All
- City Administrator and PPB to explore tracking and reporting how often minimum police staffing is not met per shift/week
- Fire Bureau to check with Permitting and Development on development activity levels and report back to Councilor Smith
- Schedule the police staffing cost report for a future meeting
- Consider auditor investigation into root causes of rising response times
- Fire Bureau to consider broader community outreach (Chamber of Commerce, unions) for future fee changes
Issues Discussed (12)
Committee advanced fire code updates and a fee schedule increase of under 27% (the first comprehensive update since before 2012) to full council, with Fire Chief Lauren Johnson and Fire Marshal Carrie Schimel citing a 43% rise in personnel costs since 2020 as justification. Councilor Kanal successfully pushed to strip the emergency clause from the fee schedule to allow for first and second readings and more public input, while Councilor Zimmerman voted against the fees, arguing the city should also focus on reducing permitting costs.
PPB officials attributed rising response times to a 20%+ increase in complex priority-one calls and reduced officer availability due to training, while the volunteer group Portland for All presented competing analysis pointing to growing "queue time" between call assignment and officer dispatch as an unexplained factor. The committee requested additional data breakdowns from PPB on self-initiated calls and deployment, with the staffing cost report rescheduled and further hearings or an auditor review anticipated.
Not substantively addressed in this meeting; the session focused on fire fee schedule/code updates and police response time data, with no discussion of reestablishing community budget advisory committees.
Referenced during broader budget discussion; the meeting summary contains no specific details on off-site odor regulations, focusing instead on fire fee schedules and police response times.
Not mentioned in this meeting; the summary covers fire fee schedules and police response times only, with no reference to Moda Center lease negotiations or public funding term sheets.
Referenced during broader committee discussion, but the meeting summary does not contain specific details about action taken on the RICAP 11 Land Use Code Amendments second reading.
Referenced during broader discussion of rising police response times, with PPB committing to provide additional data on self-initiated calls and deployment types; no specific update on the Call Allocation Committee's work was detailed, though the committee agreed the response-time issue remains an ongoing conversation with future hearings expected.
The committee advanced a fire fee schedule increase of under 27% (the first comprehensive update since before 2012) to full council, but removed the emergency clause at Councilor Kanal's request to allow standard first and second readings and give the public more time to weigh in. Councilor Zimmerman voted against the schedule, arguing the city should also focus on reducing permitting costs.
PPB officials presented data attributing rising response times to a 20%+ increase in complex priority-one calls and 90-100 officers currently in training, while the volunteer group Portland for All countered with analysis suggesting staffing levels alone don't explain growing "queue time" delays. The committee agreed to continue investigating, with PPB directed to provide further data breakdowns and a possible auditor review under consideration.
The police staffing cost report was scheduled for this meeting but accidentally dropped from the agenda due to a system error; it will be rescheduled for a future hearing.
The committee referred the fire fee schedule (a under-27% increase, the first comprehensive update since before 2012) and fire code update to full council, but stripped the emergency clause from the fee schedule to allow first and second readings and more public input. Councilor Zimmerman voted against the fee schedule, arguing the city should reduce permitting costs rather than raise fees.
The committee examined rising police response times despite falling 911 call volumes, with PPB attributing delays to more complex priority-one calls and officers tied up in training, while the volunteer group Portland for All presented a competing analysis pointing to growing "queue time" as an unexplained factor. Councilors requested further data on self-initiated calls and staffing deployment, with additional hearings and a possible auditor review expected.