City Audit of Prosper Portland Finds Financial Mismanagement

The Portland Auditor's Office has found significant evidence of financial mismanagement at Prosper Portland, formerly the Portland Development Commission. When auditors looked into four of the commission's most significant properties, they found that the agency had not gotten reliable information from contractors, and had not prepared financial forecasts or planned for upkeep at the properties. Prosper Portland also paid the operators of the Inn at the Convention Center $600,000 in 2016, almost five times the market rate for services provided. The Auditor's Office found that the agency is not ready to transition away from its current revenue stream to a plan that relies more heavily on its real estate operations. Last year the commission made $5.9 million in gross operating income from its properties, but after expenses only saw a profit of just $1.7 million. Read more.