911 funding dominates City Council meeting

Rainier City Council held its monthly public meeting on Monday, Mar. 2, with discussions about the forthcoming Columbia 911 Communications District tax levy dominating the session. The 911 Communications District has seen a shake-up and changes of guard the past 18 months.

Scappoose City Council President and 911 Board Member Tyler Miller challenged the levy, citing available reserve funds, unresolved infrastructure issues, and, according to Miller, “very precise, documented incidents of [financial] waste that has occurred.”

The levy is a forthcoming ballot measure in the May election proposing 29 cents per assessed $1,000 of your property value. This is a measure that’s failed twice before. “This is an option Levy, so it's supplemental funding to the district's permanent tax rate, which is about 25.54 cents per assessed $1,000,” said Miller. “There's also other funding streams that they get, such as the 901 tax in the state of Oregon.”

Also in attendance was former Executive Director of 911 Communications District Sally Jones, who argued reasons the levy should be passed. Jones bolstered her argument by pointing to major upgrades and forthcoming expenses. Jones claims “important changes have been made at Columbia 911 to build back and stabilize the radio system and staffing. There are new board members and a new administration.”

Recently hired Executive Director of Columbia Communications Jeremy Hipes said, “There’s no federal program that I can turn to to replace this funding. No neighboring county can absorb our call volume. Currently, this levy fails the system that answered over 85,000 calls last year. More than 20,000 event emergencies [and] 97 percent of those calls were answered in under 10 seconds. That system will break down”.

Hipes countered Miller’s claims about the levy saying the measure does not change the rate the district has previously asked for. “It's the same rate voters have approved five times since 1998. It's 29 cents per $1,000 of assessed value for $300,000 home loans, roughly $87 a year or $7.25 a month. The district is not asking for more money or asking to renew a voter that was previously authorized at the same rate, despite call volumes increasing and cost substantially raising.”

There have been a number of ongoing public issues overall with 911 Communications, including the organization structure as a special district with its own governing body and no oversight from the county. Miller proposed a change to moving the organization underneath the county, instead of it being a special district.

According to the website, Columbia 911 Communications District (C911CD) is the sole public safety 911 answering point and dispatch center for all public safety agencies based in Columbia County, Ore. The District also serves small adjacent portions of Clatsop and Multnomah counties. The District is an Oregon special district formed under Oregon Revised Statutes Chapters 198 and 403. The District is governed by a Board of Directors elected from five geographic zones within Columbia County.

“Now, why does that make sense,” asked Miller. “It makes sense because, number one, you wouldn't have the duplicative administrative overhead that you inherently have with any sort of independent agency. But also you have HR, you have payroll, you have county legal, you have county general services, you have facilities, all of those different resources that the county already has.”

Other items were addressed during the city council meeting, including ongoing discussions about a vacant lot to be used as a neighborhood garden but that property is private and discussions are ongoing. Another resident asked about removing a tree near his property. Another ongoing discussion during the meeting centered around sewer and water-rate hikes for Rainier residents. Still on that theme, there were also discussions about long-term infrastructure upgrades and needs at the sewer plant, especially in regards to weather surges and meeting DEQ (Department of Environmental Quality) requirements.