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PORTLAND Ore. (KPTV) - After meeting for a third time, Portland City Council voted Wednesday to approve the plan for a partnership between the City and Multnomah County to address homelessness, which includes working to shelter or house nearly 2,700 people by the end of 2025.

“Now is the time to really lean in and double down on getting people out of tents and into shelters and get them to the services they need to be ready and successful in permanent housing,” said Commissioner Carmen Rubio.

However, Commissioner Mengus Mapps argued the three-year, $87-million Homeless Services Intergovernmental Agreement doesn’t have a plan for how taxpayer funds will be spent.

“The IGA specifies how the joint office will spend city funds for the first year of this agreement. However, this IGA says nothing about how the joint office will spend city funds in years two and three,” Mapps said. “It is a bad business practice for the county to ask for $31 million a year in City funds without a clear plan for how those funds will be spent.”

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Oregon’s largest homeless shelter was saved from shutting its doors Thursday.

Commissioner Dan Ryan opposed the amendment saying it should have a behavioral health expert and a taxpayer who has experienced homelessness.

“In three months I do not want to hear the same excuses as how disagreement is failing or how we’re planning to plan. I want to see results that demonstrate transparency, accountability good governance most of our results,” Ryan said.

Mayor Ted Wheeler said the vote took so much time because the City and County couldn’t come to an agreement and that philosophies about addressing homelessness weren’t aligned. Recent county audits of the Joint Office of Homeless Services found that the County needs to improve how it tracks funds used to fight the homeless crisis. This is an issue Commissioner Rubio said is addressed with the new agreement.

“With this new agreement, we are redefining our relationship with Multnomah County to one that is more accountable and transparent as a way forward,” Rubio said.

In a joint release with Mayor Wheeler, Multnomah County Chair Commissioner Jessica Veda-Pederson issued this statement:

“This intergovernmental agreement is the result of over a year’s work between the City and County that has included every voice on both of our boards. It creates an inclusive, accountable table for ongoing policy decisions around our Homelessness Response System. Our homeless crisis demands an all-hands-on-deck approach and that’s what we’ve given to it. We’ve focused on cross-sector leadership and data-driven, evidence-based goals every step of the way to create solutions that address the complexity of our homelessness crisis.

“Ultimately, this work is about creating an accountable system that delivers results for our community — a pathway to safety and housing for people experiencing homelessness and a thriving community for everyone.”

Later this month, Multnomah County Commissioners will vote on the amendment. Then in October, the City Council will receive a progress report and decide if the agreement should continue.