The Hermiston City Council voted to approve a new contract with Umatilla County for emergency dispatch services.
Hermiston as well as other Umatilla County jurisdictions entered into an agreement with the county in 2014 in which 911 dispatch services would be provided by the county. Hermiston City Manager Byron Smith said the agreement has worked well for Hermiston by shifting records management to the same provider for all of the law enforcement entities in the county with the lone exception of Milton-Freewater.
“It’s been a good transition for us,” Smith told the Hermiston City Council Monday night. “But doing something in a new way brings bumps along the road.”
One of those “bumps” is the fact that the county charges for providing emergency dispatch services to local municipalities. Several smaller jurisdictions who had not been paying for 911 dispatch services prior to the county taking over have been asked to contribute to the consolidated dispatch system.
Smith said the formula for setting costs for each municipality wasn’t affordable for some municipalities. The new agreement, approved Monday by the Hermiston council, changes the formula from a population-based one to a formula based on assessed valuation.
For Hermiston, that means it will pay the county $303,486.88 for dispatch services. The payments will be made on a monthly basis of $25,290.57. The new formulation means Hermiston will pay an extra $50,000 per year for the county services.
Hermiston Mayor Dave Drotzmann said the agreement with the county has been a good one for Hermiston.
“It seems like it’s been a pretty successful transition,” he said. “The sheriff’s department has worked hard with us to address any concerns we’ve had.”
