WEDNESDAY, MAY 25, 2016
HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A3
LOCAL NEWS
FIRE CONSOLIDATION PASSES
Hermiston,
Stanfield district
folded to form
new district.
ELECTION RESULTS
Final unoficial election results on candidates and mea-
sures in the greater Hermiston area from election night re-
turns in Umatilla and Morrow counties and/or the Oregon
Secretary of State’s ofice.
Winners are marked with a checkmark.
Ballot title 30-108: Would form a new Umatilla
County Fire District No.1
Passed
Ballot title 30-109: Would dissolve Hermiston
Fire & Emergency Service District, if the
formation of the new district is approved
By JENNIFER COLTON
Staff Writer
Umatilla County Fire
District 1 is a go.
The consolidated dis-
trict will encompass the
area — and staff — of both
the Hermiston Fire District
and the Stanield Fire Dis-
trict.
To pass, voters had to
approve three separate
measures: 30-108 formed
the new district and estab-
lished funding, 30-109 dis-
solved the current Herm-
iston Fire District and
30-110 dissolved the cur-
rent Stanield Fire District.
Voters in Hermiston
and Stanield cast votes in
favor of forming the new
district.“Obviously, we’re
very happy with the re-
sults,” said Scott Stanton,
chief for both the Hermis-
ton and Stanield ire dis-
tricts. “The support of our
citizens is awesome to help
us take the ire district to
the next level and provide
the service we need,” he
said “We’re grateful for the
support. We’re going to do
good things. We’re going
to do great things.”
The new district takes
affect July 1.
“The trucks will have
a different name on the
door, but it’s going to be
the same stations, the same
people, but we’ll be able
to keep up with the growth
now and provide a great
service,” Stanton said.
When it opens with the
new name on July 1, the
new Umatilla County Fire
District 1 will have a com-
bined tax rate of $1.75 per
$1,000 of assessed prop-
erty value for residents
within the Hermiston and
Stanield area. This value
will not impact residents
— such as those within the
city limits of Hermiston
— who are already under
compression.
The reformation is
expected
to
generate
$900,000, which would
go toward adding staff,
replacing old vehicles and
providing 24/7 stafing at
Fire Station 2 on Diagonal
Road.
This is the second time
the ire districts have asked
voters for the reformation.
The consolidation pre-
Passed
HERALD FILE PHOTO
Beginning July 1, this shirt will become a collectors item and the Hermiston Fire and
Emergency Services District will be replaced by the new Umatilla County Fire District No.
1, encompassing both the Hermiston and Stanield Fire districts after voters approved the
consolidation May 17.
New ire district means
less tax revenue for city
By JADE McDOWELL
Staff Writer
Voters’ decision to approve a merg-
er between Hermiston and Stanield ire
districts will mean increased ire and am-
bulance service in the new district, but it
will also mean sacriices for the city of
Hermiston.
The new Umatilla County Fire District
1 will raise revenue from a property tax
rate of $1.75 per $1,000 of assessed val-
ue, an increase from the $1.20 per $1,000
that has been funding Hermiston Fire &
Emergency Services.
As promised, voters in Hermiston will
not see an increase in their taxes. That’s
because in 1990 Oregon voters passed
Measure 5, which limited the amount of
property taxes a resident can pay to $5 per
$1,000 of assessed value for education
and $10 per $1,000 for other government
services.
Once a city reaches the $10 ceiling,
as Hermiston has, any new tax passed by
voters adds a new slice to an already-full
pie, shrinking all of the other slices of pie
to make room. The process is known as
compression.
In Hermiston, the city itself has by far
the biggest slice of pie, at a tax rate of
more than $6 per $1,000 of assessed val-
ue. That money pays for city departments
ranging from Hermiston Police Depart-
ment to parks and recreation.
Mark Morgan, the assistant city man-
ager, said in an email that the new tax rate
for Umatilla County Fire District will di-
viously failed in the No-
vember 2014 election. In
that election, the measure
to create the new district
failed 56 percent to 44
percent among voters in
Hermiston and Stanield
areas.
“I’ve been cautiously
optimistic this whole time.
I looked at the numbers 18
months ago and the differ-
vert approximately $130,000 per year that
would have otherwise gone to the city’s
general fund. So while residents won’t be
paying for the new ire district directly out
of their own pockets, the city will have to
igure out somewhere to make cuts.
“In short, there’s no such thing as a
free lunch,” Morgan said.
That doesn’t mean that the city was
against the merger, however. Recogniz-
ing the importance of ire and ambulance
service to the community’s safety and liv-
ability, the city council made an oficial
statement in support of a consolidated
district in 2015. That attempt to merge the
districts failed, but voters approved a sec-
ond go-round May 17.
The other taxing districts within Herm-
iston affected by compression are Umatil-
la County, the Port of Umatilla, the county
radio district, the mosquito control district
and the cemetery district.
Stanield, which is not under Measure
5 compression limits, will see a 31 cent
decrease in property taxes with the new
district compared to the previous Stan-
ield Fire District rate. Residents outside
of Hermiston and Stanield will see up to
a 55 cent increase.
The increased taxing rate and new
ire district will mean increased ire and
ambulance coverage for the Hermiston/
Stanield area, which has been experienc-
ing delays in service multiple times per
month when people have called for an
ambulance but one has not been immedi-
ately available.
ence in the campaign and
what we did differently,”
Stanton said. “People this
time were a lot more vocal
saying they were voting for
us and they hoped we got it.
We hoped for the best.”
The chief said the com-
munity support continued
as the election results came
out and his phone kept
ringing into the evening.
“We want to give all
our thanks to all the folks
who supported us. We just
feel so grateful for the
support we have, and we
would have been grateful,
no matter what happened
today,” he said. “These are
two great communities and
we’re going to continue to
serve and continue that on
the best we can.”
Echo voters approve school bond
By JADE McDOWELL
Staff Writer
It was good news for
supporters of Echo School
District’s $4 million bond
(with $4 million match),
which voters approved May
17.
Echo is one of 10 school
districts statewide chosen
to receive $4 million grant
money from the state if
they could get voters to
approve a bond. The grant
will come from the Oregon
School Capital Improve-
ment Matching Program,
created by Senate Bill 447
to provide incentive for
voters to pass a general ob-
ligation bond to help fund
deferred maintenance.
At Echo School, the $8
million will pay for an ex-
pansion that includes three
classrooms, a school li-
brary, an air-conditioned
second gym, and dedicated
space for wood shop, metal
shop, art, agriculture and a
science lab. It will also pay
for increased school securi-
ty, including security cam-
eras and a key card system
to replace the locks that
currently require 41 differ-
ent keys to lock everything
in the building.
Superintendent Raymon
Smith was celebrating with
a group of district support-
ers after the initial results
came out and said everyone
in the room was “really ex-
cited.”
“It’s a lot of relief, hon-
estly,” he said.
He said he was grateful
to the community for recog-
nizing the opportunity with
the matching funds from
the state and being willing
to support the school. He
said he believed the state’s
match was what clinched it
for them.
“We would have never
had a shot, otherwise,” he
said.
The district hopes to
start construction within a
year.
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Ballot title 30-110: Would dissolve the Stanfield
Fire District, if the formation of the new district is
approved
Passed
Ballot title 30-112: Echo School District general
obligation bond
Passed
Umatilla County Commissioner, Position 3
Tom Bailor
Bill Elfering
Circuit Court, 6th District, Position 2
John L. Ballard
Jon S Lieuallen
Circuit Court, 6th District, Position 3
Daniel J Hill
Morrow County Judge
Greg Sweek
Melissa J Lindsay
Morrow County Commissioner, Position 1
Leann Rea
Jim Doherty
District Attorney, Umatilla County
Daniel R Primus
Municipal Judge, City of Hermiston
Thoma J Creasing Jr.
Mayor, City of Hermiston
David A Drotzmann
State Senator, 29th District
Republican
Bill Hansell
Independent
Barbara E Dickerson
State Representative, 57th District
Republican
Greg Smith
T hank Y ou!
2016
Crystal Apple
Award
Sponsors For
Your Support
STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS
Echo High School ag students study in a small classroom
that was built between the school shop and a bus barn in
Echo. The small classroom is used for agriculture, business,
wood and metal shop and art classes.
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