WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 30, 2017
HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A3
LOCAL NEWS
Stanfi eld residents to see hike in school taxes EOTEC looks ahead to
ongoing activities
By JAYATI
RAMAKRISHNAN
STAFF WRITER
People living in Stan-
field School District will
see a spike in their next
property tax bill, due to
what the district claims is
an accounting error.
The additional tax re-
quirement is in response
to the district’s error in
under-collecting
taxes
to cover a bond measure
passed nearly 20 years
ago to pay for a new ele-
mentary school.
A flier sent out to all
residents of the district
notes that during the
2015-2016 fiscal audit,
conducted in early 2017,
the district was notified
by its auditing firm that
it had not been collecting
enough property taxes to
cover the bond payments
by 2019, when the bond
is set to expire.
Superintendent Shel-
ley Liscom wrote in the
flier that was delivered
recently that the district
would need to increase
the percentage it levies
for the bond for the 2017-
2018 fiscal year. The let-
ter stated that the change
was not an “increase,” but
a reflection of what res-
idents should have been
paying in property taxes
for the past two years.
Paul Chalmers, the
tax assessor for Uma-
tilla County, said last
week that he had already
received several phone
calls about the problem
and made clear that his
department does not set
the rate for bonds and is
not at fault for the error.
“The assessment and
taxation department gets
certified forms for every
taxing district in Umatilla
County,” he said. “What
they certify to us is what
we put on the tax rolls.”
Chalmers said he was
made aware of the prob-
lem more than a month
ago and advised Liscom
to send a notice to tax-
payers. He noted that
for the upcoming fiscal
year, Stanfield will levy
$792,553 for bond pay-
ments. Last year, they
levied $356,425.
Liscom said the error
was discovered during a
meeting with auditors,
but that it’s unclear exact-
ly what led to the mistake
and when it was caught.
According to school
board meeting minutes,
Kris James, the district’s
current business manger,
said that auditors gave
the district a “good report
with few findings” as re-
cently as February.
Liscom and James put
the blame on a previous
business manager.
“It’s hard to know
what the last person was
thinking,” said Liscom,
who was hired as the dis-
trict’s superintendent in
2014.
Although the district
did not name her by
name, the previous busi-
ness manager at the time
of the bond issue was
Leeann ReMillard, who
held the position for at
least 12 years, until her
retirement in 2016.
James, who is starting
her second year as Stan-
field School District’s
business manager, said
the issue came to light
this year, while auditing
the 2015-2016 school
year. James said Pendle-
ton-based Cockburn and
McClintock brought the
error to the attention of
James, Liscom, and two
school board members.
“They said they found
there was not enough tax
dollars being levied to ad-
equately cover the bond
payments,” said James.
She also said this was
not the first time the firm
had brought the disparity
up to the district.
“They brought it to the
previous business man-
ager at least two times
in the past,” James said.
“They suggested how to
correct it, and it was up
to the person to make
those changes. That was
not done.”
James said that to her
knowledge, auditors only
told this information to
the business manager,
and not to the superinten-
dent or anyone else in the
district.
“I think they trusted
that the business manager
would bring that infor-
mation to the superinten-
dent,” she said.
Chalmers said Stan-
field taxpayers have been
paying about $1.28 per
$1,000 in assessed value.
After the increase, they
will paying about twice
that much — $2.56 per
$1,000 in value. Accord-
ing to U.S. Census Data
from 2010, Stanfield’s
average home price is
$110,000. That means
that according to Chalm-
ers’ numbers, the average
homeowner will be pay-
ing roughly $281 for the
bond next fiscal year.
Some aspects of the
property tax adjustment
are still up in the air.
Liscom said last week
the district was working
with Chalmers and with
auditors to see if they
can spread the increased
payments out, instead of
making taxpayers fork up
the missing funds all at
once.
Stanfield resident Da-
vid Olson said he had
been researching the is-
sue since he received the
flier earlier this month.
He initially thought the
notice was a scam.
“There was no address,
no phone number, noth-
ing,” he said. “It wasn’t
on official letterhead.”
He said he contacted
Chalmers, who told him
the information was legit.
But Olson is still con-
cerned procedure was not
followed.
“There was no amount,
no information whatso-
ever,” he said. “Just the
idea of a small communi-
ty like this — it’s not the
right avenue.”
–——
Contact Jayati Ra-
makrishnan at 541-564-
4534 or jramakrishnan@
eastoregonian.com.
Psychiatric facility applies for state approval
By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN
STAFF WRITER
Umatilla County’s main
mental health service is
seeking approval on plans to
open a psychiatric hospital in
Hermiston.
Lifeways Inc., will be re-
viewed by the Oregon Health
Authority to open Aspen
Springs Hospital, a 16-bed
psychiatric hospital under
construction at 1212 W.
Linda Ave., Hermiston. The
OHA will make a decision
by Nov. 22.
Lifeways broke ground on
the facility in July 2016, and
the hospital was scheduled to
open this spring. Lifeways
director of communications
Rick George said the plans
were stalled by some issues
with other facilities’ applica-
tions.
“We expected it to be a
faster process, but two other
projects were going on the
other side of the state, which
pushed us back,” he said.
“The state handles all of
those (processes),” he said.
“An organization like Life-
ways has to go through sev-
eral steps. Apply, answer a
series of questions about why
they want to open a facility,
what they’re trying to do.”
A press release from the
Oregon Health Authority
notes that the review will
evaluate whether the project
is effective to the area it pro-
poses to serve, and whether
it’s fi nancially viable.
When it was fi rst an-
nounced, the project was
estimated at a construction
cost of about $4.3 million,
with an annual operating cost
of $2.8 million. George said
those numbers should remain
roughly the same, despite the
delay.
He said the public hearing
will take place in late Sep-
tember or early October in
Hermiston, and will allow
them to fi nalize their appli-
cation.
Board plans how
to transition from
construction to
operations mode
one of his main goals will be
fi nding a candidate to replace
him full-time.
Rivera updated the board
on some tasks he’s been
working on since the fair and
rodeo ended.
“This week, we had a
management company on
site to do a facility assess-
ment walk-through,” he said.
“We did a two-hour tour.
They saw potential at the en-
tire site.”
Rivera said the compa-
ny, VenuWorks (which also
operates the Three Rivers
Convention Center in Ken-
newick), told him the fi rst
objective for management
should be revenue creation.
“They said we need to get
something at this facility that
makes money every day,”
Rivera said.
The most likely way to do
that, they suggested, is by de-
veloping the RV park on the
EOTEC site.
But Rivera also told the
board that they need to so-
lidify their own objectives
before bringing in a general
manager.
“Until we answer some
of those questions, it’s going
to be diffi cult for someone to
take this journey with us,” he
said
Rivera requested direc-
tion from the board on sev-
eral operations issues. He
suggested hiring a team from
MLD Services for mainte-
nance and janitorial services,
and that the board enter a
contract with them from now
until the end of October.
He also asked for ap-
proval on booking an event
— a horse sale — at the
facility using existing pric-
ing structures from the fair,
and requested that the board
approve planting trees in
the swells at the north end
of the fairgrounds parking
lot so they don’t have to be
hand-watered. The board
unanimously approved Ri-
vera’s requests.
By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN
STAFF WRITER
The fi rst fair and rodeo
at the new Eastern Oregon
Trade and Event Center
grounds has come and gone,
and board members are turn-
ing their attention to operat-
ing the facility.
Board members of both
the Umatilla County Fair
and Farm-City Pro Rodeo
spoke at Friday’s fi rst EO-
TEC board meeting since
those events ended. Both
said that overall, their events
went well.
“The board didn’t meet ...
because they were worried
about getting it completed,
not having an event,” said
Dennis Barnett of the ro-
deo board. “After months
of working on the facility,
the event went off without a
hitch.”
Dan Dorran, an outgo-
ing fair board member and
a member of the EOTEC
board, said seeing the facili-
ty in operation was a dream
come true.
“I have thousands of new
friends I never would have
had before, and probably
as many enemies,” he said.
“Dreams don’t come this big
very often.”
Despite their overall sat-
isfaction with the fi rst event
at the new location, EO-
TEC board members quick-
ly shifted focus. Their next
major job will be to fi nd a
permanent manager to run
the facility. Nate Rivera, the
superintendent of Hermis-
ton Energy Services, agreed
earlier this month to serve as
interim manager of EOTEC
for up to six months — but
National
10 New 2017
TOYOTA Models
0
% APR
for
2017 RAV4 excludes Hybrid
Council approves manager’s raise
The Hermiston City 2019 and an increase of
Council unanimously ap- $5,000 per year to his base
proved
amend-
pay.
ments
to
the
That will give
contract for City
Smith, who was
Manager
Byron
hired as city man-
Smith that will give
ager in 2014 with
him a $5,000 annu-
a base salary of
al raise and extend
$115,000 a year, a
his contract a year.
new base annual sal-
The action came
ary of $137,000. He
Monday night fol- Byron Smith
is currently making
lowing an execu-
$132,000 per year
tive session to dis-
after the most recent
cuss his performance over cost of living increase for all
the past year.
city employees approved by
The contract amendment the council in June.
includes a one-year contract
“We appreciate your ser-
extension through Aug. 28, vice to the city,” Mayor Da-
vid Drotzmann told Smith
after the unanimous vote.
“It’s been a challenging
year,” during which Smith
also served as chairman of
the Eastern Oregon Trade
and Event Center board,
which completed construc-
tion on new facilities to take
on one of the center’s prima-
ry functions as home to the
Umatilla County Fair and
Farm-City Pro Rodeo.
Those two events moved
to the new EOTEC facilities
and hosted their signature
annual events there early
this month.
— Gary L. West
$ 3,000
CASH BACK
OR
72 mos.
$ CASH
BACK
on select models
2017 Camry
000
$ 3,000
2017 Corolla
CASH BACK
000
$ 2,000
CASH BACK
also includes 2017 models of
Corolla iM, Camry Hybrid, Prius c, Avalon,
Avalon Hybrid, Yaris iA, RAV4 Hybrid
TAKE ADVANTAGE OF
SPECIAL OFFERS
2017 Tundra
1.9
2017 Tundra SR5
Double Cab
$ 399 /mo
for 36 mos.
excludes TRD PRO
$ 1,250
% APR OR CASH
BACK
Local loan officers bring Guild
Mortgage to Northeast Oregon
for
60 mos.
2017 Sienna
0 % APR
Oregon’s #1 purchase lender now has
offices in Pendleton and Hermiston.
for
2017 Prius LB
0 % APR
for
$ 2,000
OR CASH BACK
OR
60 mos.
3,000
,000
$
CASH BACK
60 mos.
All financing on approved credit through TFS. All vehicles subject to prior sale.
All prices plus tax and title. $75 dealer doc fee. Offers end 9/5/17.
For more details call 1-888-21-TOYOTA.
Every new Toyota comes with
Find out why so many homeowners go with Guild!
Pendleton Branch
Elaine Anderson
Hermiston Branch
Katie Johnson
Sales Mgr. | Loan Officer
NMLS 4487577
129 S. Main Street
Pendleton, OR 97801
O: 541.304.2069
C: 541.429.5029
eanderson@guildmortgage.net
Loan Officer
NMLS 4523220
1565 N. 1st St. 45
Hermiston, OR 97838
O: 541.371.5562
C: 541.720.2786
katie.johnson@guildmortgage.net
Staffed by well-known local residents, Guild Pendleton and Hermiston have the
nationally-backed resources and local know-how to serve our unique region.
Guild Mortgage Company is an Equal Housing Lender; NMLS 43274. ML-176 distribution. 41 lender status based on the December 2016 Corelogic Report. (817071)
(541) 567-6461 or 800-522-2308
ToyotaOfHermiston.com
Mon-Fri 8:30a - 7:00p
Sat 8:30a - 7:00p • Sun 10:00a - 5:00p