PENDLETON — The Pendleton City Council passed a status quo budget for the 2020-21 fiscal year, but city staff warned that the unforeseen effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy could lead to cuts down the line.

At an Oct. 26 city council workshop, staff revealed that the city’s budget remains largely on track through the first quarter of the fiscal year.

“I wouldn’t say it was all good news,” Mayor John Turner said in an interview after the meeting. “But it wouldn’t make you want to jump off a bridge.”

In the general fund, the fund that pays for services like police, firefighting and parks, projected revenues have fallen by about $1.5 million, but projected expenses have now fallen by roughly the same amount, which the city is doing by keeping a few positions vacant.

More concerning for the city is the Pendleton Convention Center, which has been hit especially hard by the pandemic.

The convention center relies on taxes on hotel rooms as a primary source of revenue, and with travel down during the pandemic, the city is revising its “other taxes” revenue down by more than 50%, attributing it to the decrease in lodging room tax.

Pat Beard, convention center manager, said the convention center and downtown Pendleton have a symbiotic relationship, and when one suffers, the other one does as well.

In addition to the decrease in overnight stays, the convention center is also limited in what kind of events it can recruit, with indoor events limited to 100 people.

Beard said the facility has pivoted to trying to bring in professional meetings that can use the excess space for social distancing.

“People are sick of Zoom meetings,” he said. “They’re not as effective as face to face.”

The city budgeted money for the equivalent of six positions, but most convention center employees have been reassigned to other departments that need the help.

Beard said the convention center’s budget will be lower than the $1.1 million budget it was designated over the summer, and he intends to share more definitive numbers at a city council meeting in a few weeks.

City Manager Robb Corbett said the city will have to wait to see how other forms of city revenue shake out.

While the city is currently expecting only a slight decrease in property tax revenue, they won’t know until November what that number actually looks like.

And while Corbett anticipates there will be a dip in state gas tax revenue, he said council discussions to use urban renewal money on street repair could offset the loss.

Pandemic or not, the urban renewal district continues to hand out new grants.

Charles Denight, the associate director of the Pendleton Development Commission, said council members approved a $12,595 grant to help fund a seating area for a new Travel Oregon mural in the space where We Sell Stuff used to be at 342 S.W. First St.

The project is being headed by Old West Federal Credit Union and has a total budget of $31.489.