Oregon Revised Statutes

Or. Rev. Stat. § 221.410 (2026)

Power of city to control local affairs; limitation of floating indebtedness

✓ current as of May 2026
Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section ORSoregonlegislature.gov JustiaChapter on Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

      221.410 Power of city to control local affairs; limitation of floating indebtedness. (1) Except as limited by express provision or necessary implication of general law, a city may take all action necessary or convenient for the government of its local affairs.

      (2)(a) A city may not, unless authorized to do so by its electors, contract a voluntary floating indebtedness in excess of the sum of $5,000 for general city purposes. A city official or employee who creates or officially approves such an indebtedness in excess of the limitation shall be liable for the amount of the excess.

      (b) Notwithstanding paragraph (a) of this subsection, a city may contract a voluntary floating indebtedness in excess of the sum of $5,000 for general city purposes without an election specifically approving the indebtedness if authorized to do so by a statute or charter.

      (3) As used in this section, “city” has the meaning given that term in ORS 221.010. [Amended by 2003 c.195 §9]

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 9 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1972–2022 · leading case: City of Portland v. Jackson, 850 P.2d 1093 (Or. 1993).
City of Portland v. Jackson, 850 P.2d 1093 (Or. 1993). · cites it 6× “" Notably, this delegation of legislative authority is limited to actions related to local affairs.”
Nw. Nat. Gas Co. v. City of Gresham, 374 P.3d 829 (Or. 2016). “As an initial matter, ORS 221.410(1) provides that, “[e]xcept as limited by express provision or necessary implication of general law, a city may take all action necessary or convenient for the government of its local affairs.”
Bialostosky v. Cummings, 511 P.3d 31 (Or. Ct. App. 2022). · cites it 2× “”); ORS 221.410(1) (“[A] city may take all action necessary or convenient for the government of its local affairs.”
Miller v. Water Wonderland Improvement Dist., 918 P.2d 849 (Or. Ct. App. 1996). · cites it 2× “A special district is one that performs selected governmental functions or services, such as water or fire service, as authorized by the statutes under which it is created.”
Day v. City of Canby, 922 P.2d 1269 (Or. Ct. App. 1996). · cites it 2× “In its view, it is “axiomatic that the immunity granted by the statute applies, even if the fact finder * * * might believe more should have been done by [City] to protect plaintiff” That is so, it contends, because ORS 221.410 provides that City “may take all action necessary…”
City of Eugene v. Dep't of Revenue, 15 Or. Tax 1 (Or. T.C. 1998). · cites it 2× “” ORS 221.410 grants the city the power to control local affairs.”
City of Idanha v. Consumers Power, Inc., 495 P.2d 294 (Or. Ct. App. 1972). · cites it 2× “Oceanlake had incorporated under Oregon Laws 1941, ch 453 (codified as ORS 221.”
Laine v. City of Rockaway Beach, 896 P.2d 1219 (Or. Ct. App. 1995). “315; ORS 221.410. Those facts also weigh in favor of concluding that the fire department was part of the city government.”
Nw. Nat. Gas Co. v. City of Gresham (Or. 2016). “As an initial matter, ORS 221.410(1) provides that, “[e]xcept as limited by express provision or necessary implication of general law, a city may take all action necessary or convenient for the government of its local affairs.”
— Or. Rev. Stat. § 221.410(1) — 5 cases
City of Portland v. Jackson, 850 P.2d 1093 (Or. 1993). “" Notably, this delegation of legislative authority is limited to actions related to local affairs.”
Nw. Nat. Gas Co. v. City of Gresham, 374 P.3d 829 (Or. 2016). “As an initial matter, ORS 221.410(1) provides that, “[e]xcept as limited by express provision or necessary implication of general law, a city may take all action necessary or convenient for the government of its local affairs.”
Bialostosky v. Cummings, 511 P.3d 31 (Or. Ct. App. 2022). “”); ORS 221.410(1) (“[A] city may take all action necessary or convenient for the government of its local affairs.”
City of Idanha v. Consumers Power, Inc., 495 P.2d 294 (Or. Ct. App. 1972). “Oceanlake had incorporated under Oregon Laws 1941, ch 453 (codified as ORS 221.”
Nw. Nat. Gas Co. v. City of Gresham (Or. 2016). “As an initial matter, ORS 221.410(1) provides that, “[e]xcept as limited by express provision or necessary implication of general law, a city may take all action necessary or convenient for the government of its local affairs.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.