HERMISTON, Ore.-The Hermiston City Council adopted a budget for fiscal year 2026-27 and took the first formal steps toward extending E. Jennie Avenue at its regular meeting on June 8.
The proposed budget was reviewed during a public Budget Committee meeting in May.
Following public review and discussion, the Budget Committee, comprised of City Councilors and citizen volunteers recommended the proposed budged on May 14.
Hermiston City Manager Byron Smith provided an overview of the $123.1 million budget before City Council voted to adopt it on June 8.
“All funds budget is down from $128 million to $123 million, most of that due to project completion of the library and public safety center,” said Smith.
The budget provides a 3% wage increase for all City employees, and adds a 0.75 time records clerk position in Administration, as well as a position each in the water and recycled water departments.
The adopted budget also allows the City to rehire positions that were previously frozen.
“Proposed staffing changes in the budget re-fund frozen positions in both the library and Parks and Recreation that we had to freeze a few years ago,” said Smith.
City Council unanimously adopted Resolution 2430: “The actual adoption of the budget and the actual imposition of the property tax rate on all the properties within the City for fiscal year 2026-27” with a 5-0 vote.
“Congrats Mr. Smith, you have money to run the City again,” Hermiston Mayor Doug Primmer said after the vote.
The budget will go into effect on July 1, 2026 and can be reviewed on the City website.
Extending East Jennie Avenue
City Council also took the first steps toward the possible creation of a Local Improvement District (LID) for the extension of East Jennie Avenue.
Assistant City Manager Mark Morgan explained how LIDs work as financing tools, allowing the cost for improvements to public infrastructure to be shared by the properties that will directly benefit from the project.
“Generally after formation of a LID, the City goes out and actually constructs the improvement, in this case a road, and after that construction is complete, we tally up all the costs and we assign proportionate costs to the benefitting properties, the adjacent properties,” said Morgan.
The proposed project would extend East Jennie Avenue between NE 8th Street and NE 10th Street, creating an east-west connection in an area of Hermiston experiencing significant residential growth.
The extension of East Jennie Avenue is intended to improve mobility, effectively distribute traffic, and provide better connections between new neighborhoods and transportation corridors, including Highway 395 and NE 10th Street, according to the City.
As Morgan explained, the creation of a LID is a process with many steps, including requesting an engineering report, a public hearing, formally creating the LID, construction, cost reconciliation, and assessment.
City Council adopted Resolution 2427, requesting a formal engineering report to include the scope of the project, estimated costs, and identify benefiting properties, by a 4-1 vote.
City Council then passed Resolution 2428 by a 5-1 margin, declaring its intent to move forward in the LID process and setting a public hearing, where community members and affected property owners will have the opportunity to provide input, for July 27.
Minutes of past Hermiston City Council meetings are available online.
