NEWS
MyEagleNews.com
Wednesday, June 9, 2021
County reluctantly passes budget
‘Fall-back’ funding
prevents most cuts
this year, but long-
term problems persist
and is relying on COVID-19
relief funding and the potential
of more federal funding that
may or may not fill holes in its
budget.
“It appears that the court is
relying on COVID-19 money
that they hope can be used to
fill the shortfalls,” Quinton
said. “This is not the answer,
nor is it the responsible way for
the government at any level to
do business.”
Kreger told the committee
that the county would be in a
situation where it will have to
cut jobs instead of reducing
hours and furloughing certain
positions as the committee
discussed in earlier sessions.
However, the commit-
tee scrapped the idea and
opted for back-filling bud-
get holes with COVID-19
relief funds and prospective
legislation in Congress that
could potentially increase the
county’s Payment in Lieu of
Taxes funding to upwards of
$900,000.
“We can be proactive, or
we’re going to be in deep, deep
trouble,” Kreger said.
County Judge Scott Myers
said the county would end up
in the same place it found itself
in at the end of this budget year.
“We talked about cuts,” he
said, “but we didn’t make any
substantial cuts.”
By Steven Mitchell
Blue Mountain Eagle
After a contentious con-
clusion to a two-hour bud-
get session, the county reluc-
tantly passed its budget for the
upcoming fiscal year.
The Budget Committee
passed the budget on a 3-2 vote.
The three Grant County Court
members voted to approve the
budget, while two of the com-
mittee’s citizens voted against
it.
Meanwhile, the court’s third
citizen member, Bob Quinton,
vice president and commer-
cial loan officer at the Bank
of Eastern Oregon, abstained
from voting on the budget to
prevent delaying the process.
By law, the county must sub-
mit a balanced budget before
June 30.
Quinton said he would
have voted no, but commit-
tee members Amy Kreger and
Rob Stewart beat him to it with
their votes.
Quinton, Kreger and Stew-
art said that the county is
spending more than it takes in
they would walk away from
the efforts of setting up the tax-
ing district if they did not see
an “honest effort” from the
county.
“They just need a commit-
ment from our side that this
is viable to the county for two
years,” she said.
How did we get here?
The Eagle/Steven Mitchell
From left, Budget Committee citizen members, Rob Stewart,
Amy Kreger and Bob Quinton.
He said the county has
“fall-back” funding this year
and “potentially” next year.
What the committee
decided
Economic Development
office
In the county’s Economic
Development office, the com-
mittee decided to cut its assis-
tant position to 30 hours a week
and moved $6,000 in COVID-
19 relief funds to back-fill the
position if needed with court
approval.
Sheriff’s patrol
The committee decided to
move the sheriff’s forest patrol
under the Grant County Sher-
iff’s Office in the budget. Trea-
surer Julie Ellison said the
position was initially supposed
Residents request county
revive Contracts Review Board
Grant applications among requests for review
By Steven Mitchell
Blue Mountain Eagle
Residents are requesting the
county consider reviving its
decades-old Contracts Review
Board and adding grant funding
applications to the list of agree-
ments for committee review.
Grant County resident Char-
lene Morris told county court
members during the May 26
session that the county had a
review board over 20 years ago
and that she would like to help
the county with the contract
and grant application review
process.
“I firmly believe that the
county needs some help from
their constituents about approv-
ing grants and contracts,” she
said.
Morris said she was disap-
pointed with a proposal that has
since been rejected to receive
a Project Turnkey grant that
various county social services
offices worked on. The funding
would have provided financing
to buy and convert a hotel into
transitional housing.
Morris said millions of dol-
lars flow through the county’s
Economic Development office.
She asked if department head
Tori Stinnett had met with the
Farm Bureau or the Cattlemen’s
Association.
In a Friday interview, Stin-
nett said she would be open to
meeting with both groups.
“They are more than wel-
come to reach out to me to col-
laborate and grow ideas,” she
said. “I want to be clear that I
am not ignoring any groups or
think that other groups are not
as important as others.”
County Commissioner Jim
Hamsher said that the depart-
ment attempted to contact
ranchers in the county during
the early days of the pandemic.
Morris told the court she
is “absolutely, completely
opposed to taxpayer grants.”
“It’s just mind-boggling how
much money in the last year or
year and a half has come into
this county, through state and
federal tax dollars, in the name
of a grant,” she said.
Myers said, to an extent, it
bothers him too, but he pointed
out the services in the county
that would not exist without
grant money.
He said those services
include Head Start, education
and preschool. He said many
of the parents of those children
could no longer afford that edu-
cation for their children without
the funding. Morris asked the
court how those parents got by
without assistance in the 1960s,
’70s and ’80s.
Hamsher said K-12 educa-
tion was not mandatory during
that time.
Myers said grant applica-
tions and agreements go to
the county’s legal counsel for
review. Nonetheless, he said
he would look into whether the
county would be obligated to
have a contract review board by
statute.
Committee Volunteers Needed
Grant County is now recruiting volunteers to serve on active boards
and committees.
Obtain an Application to Volunteer from County Court,
201 S. Humbolt, No. 280, Canyon City OR 97820;
(541-575-0059) puckettk@grantcounty-or.gov
Applications are due by Tuesday, June 15th, 2021.
Committees are formal public bodies required to comply with
Oregon Public Meetings Law ORS 192.610.
College Advisory Board
Seven members plus three ex-officio members serve a three year term and meet monthly
to promote local educational opportunities and identify educational needs within the com-
munity.
Extension & 4-H Service District Advisory Council
Eleven members serve three year terms and meet semi-annually to provide guidance and
assistance to local OSU Extension staff in planning, developing, and evaluating balanced
educational programs directed to high priority needs of county residents. Membership is
limited to one re-appointment.
Library Advisory Board
Seven members serve four year terms and meet monthly to promote public awareness and
support of library services, receive public input, review and update library materials, and
coordinate activities with the Grant County Library Foundation. Membership is limited to one
re-appointment.
Natural Resources Advisory Committee
Nine members serve one and two year terms. Members must live in Grant County and con-
stitute a representation of agriculture and livestock production, timber and wood products
production, recreation, hunting and fishing, water resources, mining, cultural resources and
advocates for natural resources stewardship through continuation of the customs, culture,
health, safety and economic stability of Grant County.
Planning Commission
Nine members serve a four year term and two alternates serve a two year term, meeting
as needed to review land use and zoning applications and discuss city and county growth
issues and siting new facilities. Members must be residents of various geographic areas
within the county and no more than two voting members shall be engaged in the same kind
of business, occupation, trade or profession with agriculture designations of livestock / for-
age crop production and horticulture / specialty crop production. Commissioners serving in
this capacity must file an Annual Verified Statement of Economic Interest with the Oregon
Government Ethics Commission. Members must re-apply to the County Court before their
term ends if they wish to be re-appointed. The commission is a formal public body required
to comply with Oregon Public Meetings Law ORS 192.610.
Wildlife Advisory Board
Created by Resolution 1993-29. Nine members serve three year terms and meet as
needed to discuss issues regarding big game management and make recommendations
to Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife, including tag allocation and hunting season
structure as they relate to population and damage of property.ocation and hunting season
structure as they relate to population and damage of property.
S246829-1
to be a part-time job, budgeted
at $14 per hour with no bene-
fits. However, full-time Dep-
uty Dave Dobler, who earns
roughly $50 per hour, has been
in the position. Grant County
Sheriff Todd McKinley said he
could not speak to why Dobler
had been put in the position
but that he puts in a “yeoman’s
work” and did not deserve to
be punished.
Predator control
The committee decided
to budget $35,000 for preda-
tor. Hamsher said he heard the
Grant County Farm Bureau
would set up a taxing district
if the county could support the
predator control position for
two more years. Kreger said
the Farm Bureau told her that
Kreger said the increase in
full-time employees and the
cost of employee benefits had
costed the county. She told
the committee that the county
needs to reevaluate those costs.
Ellison said the county has
given over $600,000 to the
health department.
“We never gave them a dol-
lar when we owned it,” she
said. The county sold the build-
ing to Community Counseling
Solutions roughly two years
ago.
She said the county paid
out over $100,000 to preda-
tor control and added two new
positions at the county jail at
$100,000 apiece.
“We’re going to be in the
hole,” she said. “We have no
extra money coming in.”
County Commissioner Sam
Palmer said that the county lost
sawmills over the last 30 years.
“We’ve become one of the
highest unemployment coun-
A3
ties in the state,” he said, add-
ing people were once working
and thriving in the county. “We
used to be one of the highest in
the nation.”
Quinton said he agreed with
Palmer’s assessment but said
“on the other side of the coin”
that spending needs to go down
as revenue goes down.
Myers concurred with
Quinton that the county had
not cut spending. Myers said
PILT and COVID-19 relief
money would not be a “fix.”
“I think it’s just a delay,” he
said.
How do we ensure it
doesn’t happen again?
Myers said the county had
made mistakes and oversights
over the last couple of budget
cycles.
“We’ve learned lessons
along the way,” Myers said.
“We learn a lesson every bud-
get year.”
Ellison said she told the
committee last year that the
county needed to start cutting
costs and freezing hiring when
the budget was adopted. She
said she hoped that her warn-
ings would be taken seriously.
Kreger asked that the
county provide a mid-year
update of the county’s budget
to the committee members.
BUSINESS MANAGER—GRANT COUNTY ESD
Grant County ESD is seeking a Business Manager/Deputy Clerk. The business manager directs the op-
erations of the Fiscal Services Department to provide effective and efficient business services to schools
and the ESD and to assist the superintendents in providing the best possible administrative services to
constituent district employees and ESD personnel with the financial and human resources available.
The Business Manager/Deputy Clerk will often work beyond an eight-hour day and a five-day week to
take care of daily work, attend meetings, conferences and district/school activities. The business manag-
er must have extensive knowledge of GAAP, budget laws and regulations, demonstrated knowledge of
the audit process. Must have excellent communication, problem-solving and small-group process skills.
Must frequently make decisions; use independent judgment and/or independent action; mentor, use
discretion; and analyze problems. Ability to verbally respond to common inquiries from various people.
Frequently present and teach or train. Must have the ability to read and interpret documents, write
routine reports and correspondence. Confidentiality is crucial. Workloads are heavy and timelines can
be unreasonably short and inflexible. Requests and issues are often received which require immediate
attention and conflict with other priorities.
Position reports to the superintendent, supervises the fiscal services personnel, and is ultimately respon-
sible for the day-to-day operations of the Fiscal Services Department.
PERFORMANCE RESPONSIBILITIES
• Enforces district accounting practices and policies to affirm that all financial records are maintained
in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), Governmental Accounting Stan-
dards Board (GASB), district policies, and federal, state, and local laws or regulations.
• Researches, interprets, and understands current and proposed regulations, accounting principles, and
other statutory requirements.
• Provides management and oversight or performs the following accounting services and activities:
accounts payable, accounts receivable, cash receipts, contracts, fixed assets, general ledger, payroll,
purchasing, grant accounting, student body funds, debt management, ADM student reporting and
accounting, and treasury.
• Provides counsel, expertise, and guidance to the superintendent, the boards, district staff, administra-
tors, in financial and human resource matters.
• Oversees grant accounting including expenditure reporting and auditing of expenditures to submitted
budgets
• Oversee and manage the software accounting system for district revenues and expenditures and cash
management in accordance with generally accepted government accounting principles and district
policy.
• Assists, leads and directs the budget process in accordance with Local Budget Law; coordinates,
plans, and oversees the development of the district budget; monitors budget expenditures to ensure
compliance and a positive financial status, in accordance with District, State and Federal Guidelines,
and GASB Standards
• Performs a variety of revenue forecasts and cash flow analysis; prepares revenue and expenditure
projections; invests funds for safety of principal, liquidity, and for maximum return.
• Attends all school board meetings; take minutes, prepare and present reports/responses related to the
financial status of the district and other matters under their responsibility.
• Communicates effectively with customers at all levels (management, clerical support, regulatory
officials, and component district personnel) to clearly ascertain the concerns raised and respond
courteously, promptly, and accurately.
• Maintain general ledger; generate reconciled monthly financial statements, prepare journal entries as
needed.
• Manage, report, and draw down funds for all district state and federal grants.
• Oversee internal auditing system to ensure accurate tracking of financial information in preparation
for yearly external audit.
• Maintain records required by district policy and state statute, including bid files, contract, etc.
Prepare and submit reports and records required by state and federal agencies and district superinten-
dents.
• Responsible for monthly payments of employee insurance premiums and payments to savings plan(s)
as selected by the employee.
• Responsible for monthly PERS payments and reconciliation of the account.
• Responsible for maintenance of current and accurate files on all active and inactive employees as
related to payroll records, insurance, PERS, and leave reporting.
• Provide Human Resource services for all employees, including assisting with health insurance options,
PERS, life insurance, etc.
• Responsible for accurate monthly payroll. Prepare payroll checks and direct deposition stubs for
distribution and maintain payroll records, prepare ACH for bank, ensure all payroll liabilities (including
federal and state taxes) are correct and paid timely. Prepare all quarterly and annual payroll reports.
• Perform other tasks and work-related duties as requested by the superintendent.
QUALIFICATIONS
• Bachelor’s Degree in accounting or a comparable field or evidence of equivalent knowledge of ac-
counting principles, data processing, accounts payable, accounts receivable, and payroll procedures.
• Knowledge of Generally Accepted Government Accounting Standards with five years of progressively
responsible governmental fund accounting, preferably in a public school or educational institution.
• Demonstrated skills in accounting software, data processing, spreadsheets, and word processing (such
as Visions Fund Accounting system, MS Word, and Excel).
• Ability to operate standard office equipment with 10-key proficiency.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills with a high degree of accuracy.
• Ability to exercise judgment and integrity on the job with confidentiality, tact, and diplomacy.
• Ability to work independently prioritizing tasks to meet deadlines while maintaining a high degree of
accuracy and attention to detail.
• Ability to maintain confidentiality of sensitive and confidential information related to personnel,
employee contracts, and legal matters affecting the district(s).
• Must be bondable and never been refused a bond.
COMPENSATION: The position is full-time and year round. The compensation package is competitive
with similarly sized districts and negotiable based on experience. Candidates must possess, or be able to
obtain, an Oregon Driver’s license and pass a background check including fingerprints
Timeline: Applications will be accepted immediately and duties will begin as soon as the successful
applicant is available.
APPLICATION PACKET CONTENTS:
• A completed application form from Grant County ESD (http://www.grantesd.k12.or.us/employment.
html)
• A resume including three current references
All Application materials will be sent to:
Grant County ESD
attn: Robert Waltenburg, Superintendent
835A S. Canyon Blvd.
John Day, OR 97845
Applications may also be dropped off at the above location during regular business hours.
Grant County Education Service District is an equal opportunity employer and complies with all applicable state
and federal statutes and regulations in employment and district programs. Equal employment opportunity and
treatment shall be provided in recruiting, hiring, retaining, transferring, promoting, and training of all employees
regardless of the individual’s race, religion, color, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, marital status, age, or
disability.
S246190-1