NEWS
MyEagleNews.com
Wednesday, May 5, 2021
Levy rate to fund John Day
Police Department increases
Dispatch center successful since transition
Voters to be asked
to pay 50 cents per
$1,000 in assessed
property value
to fund police
department
The Grant County Emer-
gency
Communications
Agency continues to grow
since it became its own agency
in 2019.
Dispatch Director Valerie
Maynard said things have gone
well since the transition.
The dispatch team moved
from the John Day Police
Department to the John Day
Fire Hall, which provided more
space and the opportunity to
design their work arrangements
to correlate with their duties.
“The notable thing is that
we now don’t have the inter-
ruptions that we had at city hall
with the background noise on
the radio, and users appreciate
the change,” Maynard said.
House Bill 2449, which was
passed in 2019, has provided a
growth in revenue for 911 dis-
patchers in Oregon.
The bill increased the fee for
wireless and wired telephone
accounts and prepaid wireless
retail transactions to $1 in 2020,
up from 75 cents, and will rise
again in 2021 to $1.25.
“It went up a total of 50
cents from the 75 cents, which
is huge,” Maynard. “We
went from around $70,000 to
$100,000 for a quarter in reve-
nue for the fi rst increase. That
adds up, and now we’re looking
like we’re in the black.”
Maynard said the entities
that are in the dispatch center’s
intergovernmental council —
cities and other dispatch users
— were happy the bill passed.
The goal of the intergovern-
mental agreement was that the
entities would cover some of
the costs of the dispatch agency
until there was a tax increase.
“Much like the PD, we were
By Rudy Diaz
Blue Mountain Eagle
The Eagle/Rudy Diaz
The John Day City Council discusses the budget April 27.
John Day plans to let
voters decide in August
whether to pass a city tax to
fund the police department,
and the cost has increased
from initial estimates.
The John Day City
Council April 27 chose to
pursue a local option levy
of 50 cents per $1,000 of
assessed property value and
to collect the entire amount
if it passes.
John Day City Manager
Nick Green said the city
would only need to col-
lect 35 cents per $1,000 of
assessed value for the fi rst
year, but the city council
decided they would prefer
pursuing the full amount
the fi rst year to create a
safety net for unexpected
expenses.
“The ballot will go out
at 50 cents, but to make the
budget balance for the next
fi scal year as submitted by
the budget committee, we
would only need to collect
35 cents,” Green said.
City Councilor Heather
Rookstool said it would
be safer to collect the full
amount because the extra
funds provide a cushion.
Green said any funds left
over can be
carried for-
ward to the
next fi scal
year.
“I know
you tried
John Day Po- ... and put
lice Chief Mike everything
Durr
in
there
that
you
can think of, but there’s
always something that
comes up,” Rookstool said.
City Councilor Dave
Holland said Green’s rea-
soning with the 50-cent
levy is to make sure the city
is covered over the next fi ve
years.
“As we put the budget
together, we’ll know what
that levied amount needs to
be to fi ll the gap,” Holland
said. “This year, we need
35 cents, but the next year
we may need only 40 or 45
(cents).”
The amount collected
could not exceed the 50-cent
levy requested from voters.
The 50 cents per $1,000 of
assessed property value will
add up to $50 per year for
every $100,000 of assessed
property value.
The city’s legal counsel
is currently working on the
ballot measure, and it will
be presented at the May 11
city council meeting where
the rate plans and language
will be fi nalized. The coun-
cil will need to approve the
language prior to submitting
it to the Grant County clerk
by May 14.
With the current police
chief, Mike Durr, retiring this
year, the job description for
the chief of police position
will be posted at the end of
the week and will go through
the Law Enforcement Data
System. Citycounty Insur-
ance Services will help vet
and screen applicants, and
the position will remain open
until it is fi lled.
“The off er will be made
contingent on the levy pass-
ing,” Green said. “Provided
nobody contests the results
of the election, we would
have an off er that could be
made in August.”
The John Day City Coun-
cil also agreed that another
town hall meeting, similar
to one held April 8, would
be a great idea prior to the
August election date.
A3
By Rudy Diaz
Blue Mountain Eagle
The Eagle/Rudy Diaz
Grant County Emergency Communications Agency Dispatch Di-
rector Valerie Maynard said the agency has been successful since
its transition away from the city of John Day.
running on such a shoestring
budget for many years prior
to the transition,” Maynard
said. “Now we have a bit of a
reserve, and we can keep build-
ing and then we can do things
that we need to do to operate.”
The dispatch center is wait-
ing to hear back from a grant
application to upgrade their
radio system, Maynard said.
Maynard said the certainty
and the knowledge that the
dispatch center is not going
anywhere anytime soon pro-
vides comfort for residents and
employees.
The uncertainty of employ-
ment for dispatchers prior to the
intergovernmental agreement
provided a great trial for the dis-
patch team.
“We didn’t know, and
it’s very unusual that you go
through something like that
and people don’t look for other
jobs,” Maynard said. “But
everyone was dedicated to not
make things fall apart, so they
waited until the last minute to
know if they’ll be employed,
and we were at full staff when
we moved.”
The relationship with the
city of John Day also took a hit
when the discussion of the tran-
sition began, but Maynard said
things calmed down.
“Even if it was a sound busi-
ness decision on their part, it
was not easy to hear that we
now have to support ourselves
and move somewhere else to
work,” Maynard said.
People asked Maynard if the
current situation between the
police department and the city
is reminiscent to what happened
with dispatch. She said yes, but
she is not surprised about the
discussions happening because
of the budget and costs to main-
tain the police department.
“That’s tough on (JDPD
employees), but now they know
that if they contract with the
county, they have a job,” May-
nard said.
Maynard said a key benefi t
with keeping the dispatch local
is the knowledge dispatch-
ers have of the area and their
awareness of locations.
A highlight of the job for dis-
patchers is working and serv-
ing in the community they love.
She said the job takes a toll on
a dispatcher emotionally, but
they learn to adapt and have a
passion for what they do.
“We thank the community
and entities for their support,
and we wouldn’t be here with-
out them,” Maynard said.
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