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NEWS
Blue Mountain Eagle
Budget
COVID
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She said she budgeted to
receive $500,000 in PILT money
this year.
On a positive note, Ellison
noted that voters approved a 3%
tax on marijuana products in the
November election, but the county
will only receive May and June
revenue this fiscal year.
She said the sheriff’s office
budgeted for an increase in reve-
nue through inmate housing at the
county jail. The jail has brought in
$66,500 so far.
She said the county anticipates
$35,000 will go to the sheriff’s
office to fill the budget holes.
next week if the case counts
continue.
Now what?
Ellison said Monday that
COVID-19 stimulus money
might help fill some of the budget
holes, but not all of them.
“Those holes are not going
away by with a band aid,” she
said.
County Judge Scott Myers
said the county must get a “han-
dle” on spending. That includes
both current and future expendi-
tures, he said.
Myers said the county can put
money they do not spend before
June 1 back into the general fund,
which would help the county
going forward.
Over the years, Myers said,
the county would typically plan
for a lower PILT payment than
they would receive, so the county
would always have more cash on
hand.
Seniors and younger
people
The surge in cases and
the county’s low vaccina-
tion rate, particularly among
seniors, concern public health
officials.
As of Sunday, the county
vaccinated 34.8% of residents
65 and older, the lowest rate
among Oregon’s 36 counties,
according to CDC data. Mean-
while, in Harney County,
53.1% of people 65 and older
received the vaccine. In Lake
County, 48.7% rolled up their
sleeves. In Umatilla, 57.7%;
Morrow, 55.1%; Union, 53%;
Baker, 99.9%; and Malheur,
58.5%.
Lindsay said, over three
weeks, the health department
has also seen more young peo-
ple test positive for the virus.
Grant County’s uptick in
positive cases among younger
people reflects a national
trend. The American Acad-
Eagle file photo
Greg Armstrong, owner of
Len’s Drug.
emy of Pediatrics shows a
similar rise in the percentage
of new infections in younger
people.
While young people do
not face the risk of death or
hospitalization that elderly
adults face, Lindsay said
the young people showing
up to the health department
are presenting more severe
symptoms.
Lindsay said, although she
has not seen test results, the
effects of the virus the health
department are seeing are sim-
ilar to the infectious variant of
the coronavirus, referred to as
EOMG file photo
Kerry Gillette, a physician assistant with Mosaic Medical, fills
syringes with the Moderna vaccine during a COVID-19 vaccina-
tion clinic at Bethlehem Inn in Bend on Friday, Feb. 19.
B.1.1.7. State health officials
believe it has been in Ore-
gon since last year, and the
CDC notes that B.1.1.7 vari-
ant is roughly 50% more con-
tagious and 67% more deadly
than the original form of
the virus.
So far, OHA has not
reported a variant of con-
cern in Grant County’s region
seven, which it shares with
Deschutes, Harney, Jefferson,
Klamath, Lake, Wheeler and
Crook counties, but the state
just began reporting on the
variants.
There are 13 patients hos-
pitalized in region 7, and only
seven intensive care beds
available in the region.
“We are seeing people get-
ting sicker,” Lindsay said.
Vaccine hesitancy in
rural counties
Lindsay said the reason
for the surge boils down to the
low number of vaccinations.
“This is attacking the
non-vaccinated
individu-
als with a vengeance,” she
said. “And that’s why there’s
a surge going on in Grant
County, as well as in other
states.”
Grant County is not unique
in its overall hesitancy to get
the vaccine, but health experts
estimate the country must
inoculate 70-80% of the popu-
lation to reach herd immunity.
The reasons behind the
lack of interest are varied,
Armstrong said.
He said, with how spread
out people are from each
other in the sparsely populated
county, some might believe
they do not need to get it.
“I think there’s a spatial
issue there,” Armstrong said.
“But what people don’t realize
is that we have many people
traveling through town every
day from out of town.”
Others, he said, are natu-
rally hesitant about what they
put in their body, especially
when it comes to vaccines, he
said.
Armstrong said people
need to know that not getting
the vaccine is far riskier than
getting the vaccine.
Support
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necessarily near John Day,”
Maynard said. “If you’re
even looking at that, I would
like to see some information
as to what kind of coverage
we would be looking at.”
Green said, while the dis-
cussions are ongoing regard-
ing the specific coverage
the city would receive, the
three transitioning employ-
ees would be paid for by the
John Day tax base and would
be in John Day for a substan-
tial amount of their time.
“The intent is that we’re
paying for three officers that
would be patrolling in John
Day,” Green said.
The Eagle/Rudy Diaz
Show me the money
Pam Durr speaks in support of the John Day Police Department on April 8.
While a majority of resi-
dents and city councilors at
the meeting favored keep-
ing the department, there
was less consensus on the
levy and budgeting for the
department.
John Day resident Hank
Lissman said the police
department is doing well,
but the levy needed to fund
the department would have
consequences.
“That 10 to 15 cents is
going to use up my whole
raise in my property tax
before I buy groceries, gas
and anything else,” Liss-
man said. “I don’t know the
answer to the question (of
funding), and I know it’s a
terrible problem.”
John Day resident Dusty
Williams asked if the green-
house, which is paying for
one employee, was mak-
ing enough money to cover
an employee at the police
department.
“We’re trying to find
funding for the police
department,” he said. “Well,
there’s several employees
right there that their wages
and their benefits may pay
Mtn. View Mini-Mart 211 Front St., Prairie City 541-820-4477
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for the police department.
I’m all about people hav-
ing jobs ... but we’re talking
about the police department
here. I would rather have a
police department than buy
a head of lettuce at Chester’s
(Thriftway).”
Williams also asked
about the number of city
employees.
Green said, when he got
to John Day, there were 22
city employees, and now
there are 18. However,
when Green started, the dis-
patch center and its several
employees were still under
John Day until the dispatch
center transitioned to its cur-
rent agreement away from
the city. Green said four
employees are in city hall,
but there were two when
he started. Several of the
employees in city hall are
part-time workers as well.
John Day Mayor Ron
Lundbom said there were
minimal vegetables in the
winter, and there was an
opportunity to implement a
greenhouse with the help of a
grant. He said there are plans
to transition the greenhouse
into a cooperative and that
the interest in the greenhouse
generated interest in the city
and in internship opportu-
nities with Eastern Oregon
University.
Juan Vargas said, in
watching the town hall, he
noticed that there were many
opinions, with both the city
and residents being defen-
sive. He said, while many
residents see that the city
is trying to grow the popu-
lation in John Day through
these projects, he thinks the
city also needs to prioritize
them.
He said both groups need
to come together to find the
best solution and priori-
tize important projects first,
while setting aside other
projects to be finished while
the important projects are
completed.
“I think what we need
to do as a community is
focus together with a bit of
understanding and figuring
out what projects are crit-
ical now and what needs to
be done now,” Vargas said.
“Right now, I think it’s
agreed by the community at
large that the police depart-
ment is a critical project. As
a community we’ve got to
stick together and figure this
out.”
Tim Rude, who lives in
Prairie City but owns a busi-
ness in John Day, said he
knows that grants are bene-
ficial, but there is an added
cost involved with getting
grants. He said more job
opportunities are another
source to target for bringing
people in for growth.
Councilor Elliot Sky said
an opportunity that John Day
has is targeting high-paying
remote jobs with broadband.
Sky said, where the city may
not have the infrastructure
for physical local jobs, they
have the potential for people
moving here for remote jobs
while paying taxes.
“I think one of the obsta-
cles that you guys are up
against is the majority of the
people in this community are
from a conservative base,”
Rude said. “The people that
have been here forever are
timber, ranching, trucking...
I think as a community, a lot
of the people here are those
people. What you’re say-
ing, I disagree with. It’s true
from a remote side of things,
(but) we don’t want this to
be Bend. We want this to be
Grant County.”
John Day resident Rich
Lallatin said he is in support
of keeping the police depart-
ment and in favor of look-
ing for a long-term funding
solution. He said he would
be willing to vote for tempo-
rarily increasing his taxes to
pay for the department, but
stressed that it would be tem-
porary because of the rising
costs.
“The only other option
is to increase the amount of
people paying taxes,” Lall-
atin said. “In other words,
John Day has to grow or it
will lose the police depart-
ment. We’re at a point now
where we either grow or we
die.”
No decision was made,
but Green said the city will
need to decide by the April
27 council meeting.
Help is available
for victims of
sexual assault in
Grant County.
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Expenses up
Repairs at Trowbridge Pavilion
at the fairgrounds ended up cost-
ing the county $378,000, but the
court members only expected it
to cost $320,000. Ellison pointed
out in the budget proposal that the
county intended to get a complete
reimbursement but only received
$283,000.
She said the the initial plan was
to replenish the courthouse reserve
fund with the reimbursement, but
that fell through and the proposed
budget drains the reserve entirely.
Ellison said a part-time forest
patrol position, budgeted for $14
per hour without benefits, has long
been in the red due because a dep-
uty sheriff has been filling the posi-
tion, working 30 hours a week with
benefits. She said she asked the
court several times to address the
situation to no avail.
Ellison also noted the sheriff’s
office went from 14 to 17 full-time
employees since 2016. She said the
county could not afford those pay-
roll costs any longer.
“This needs to be taken care of
in this budget session,” she said.
Spending across many other
county funds increased as well.
The Planning Department’s per-
sonnel costs increased by $20,000
when planning director Shannon
Springer increased to full time.
The county’s emergency man-
ager Paul Gray also got a bump
to full time, which will cost the
county an additional $16,000.
Ellison said there are many
other “variables” that the county
will grapple with over the upcom-
ing budget committee sessions.
“With funds not coming in and
spending more than we anticipated,
the balance of revenue and expen-
ditures just do not pan out,” Elli-
son said.
Wednesday, April 14, 2021
If you or someone you
know has been a victim of
sexual assault, please call:
Heart of Grant County
541-620-1342
Grant County Victim
Assistance Program
541-575-4026
Remember:
sex without
consent =
sexual assault
ThisprojectwassupportedbyGrantNo.2019-WR-AX-0027
awardedbytheOfficeonViolenceAgainstWomen,U.S.
DepartmentofJustice.Theopinions,findings,conclusions,
andrecommendationsexpressedinthispublication/program/
exhibitionarethoseoftheauthor(s)anddonotnecessarily
reflecttheviewsoftheU.S.DepartmentofJustice.
S237707-1
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