Police Station Bond

The City Council heard that residents were concerned about an increase in residential property taxes. To offset the impact on residents while still accessing large bond contribution payments from corporate data centers, the City Council established a Public Safety Center Credit.

This credit, which would only take effect if the bond measure were approved by voters in November 2025, would provide an annual credit equal to each household’s general obligation bond payment toward the police station, offsetting the cost of the police station for residential taxpayers.

If the measure does not pass, the City of Umatilla would seek other funding alternatives for the project, with any debt service paid from the general fund and not large bond contribution payments from corporate data centers. The City would need to consider reductions in service or delaying other capital construction projects in order to reserve budget toward the debt service for the police station. Property taxes would not be increased.

The median residential Assessed Value within the City of Umatilla is $127,630, based on information provided by the Umatilla County Assessor’s office. The proposed cost for the bond is $0.27 per $1,000 of Assessed Value.

If approved by voters, the median residential property taxpayer in Umatilla would pay about $35 per year, or $2.85 per month.

You can look up your property’s Assessed Value by reviewing your tax statement or through the search function at the Umatilla County Assessor’s webpage.

The last City of Umatilla general obligation bond was approved in May 1993. It was a $2,000,000 bond for construction of a water reservoir, water line extensions, and the acquisition of water lines.

Enterprise zones are an economic development tool in the State of Oregon that are primarily used to incentivize new business investments by abating local property tax for a certain period of time. There are approximately 73 enterprise zones in Oregon as of 2024. The Greater Umatilla Enterprise Zone was created in 1999 and updated in 2019. The zone’s sponsors are the City of Umatilla, Umatilla County, and the Port of Umatilla.

The majority of the enterprise zone agreements include a provision that participating corporations pay toward general obligation bonds for education, public health, and public safety. Because the police station is considered a public safety facility, a general obligation bond unlocks tax funding from corporations that would otherwise not be accessible.

Companies in the enterprise zone would pay 93.5% of the total cost of the project over the 20-year term of the bond. For every $1 paid by a local residential taxpayer toward the project, corporations operating in the enterprise zone would pay $14.50.

The 2020 census listed the population of Umatilla at 7,108. As of 2025, the population is estimated by Portland State University’s Population Research Center to be 8,256.

Since 2019, Umatilla has had an average of 90 new single-family homes per year, which equates to approximately 240 new residents per year. The City projects that growth will continue at an increase of approximately 3% per year for at least the next 5 years. The population in 2030, based on a study by the PSU Population Research Center, is estimated to be 9,558.

The International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) and FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) recommend a standard of 2 officers per 1,000 population. In 2025, the City of Umatilla has 2 officers per 1,030 residents, for a total of 16 officers to serve the total population of 8,256. Since 2019, the City Council adopted the goal of maintaining policing resources with an officer-to-resident ratio at or near the standard.

The City of Umatilla’s policing resources currently include 16 sworn officers, 2 civilian staff, and 1 code enforcement officer for a total of 19 staff.

By 2030, the City projects they will need to add three officers in order to maintain the standard of 2 officers per 1,000 residents.

The proposed police station is approximately 14,000 square feet and was design for growth for the next 20 years – through the year 2045. It is designed to accommodate 26 officers, 4 detectives, and 6 support staff. The design also allows for future expansion on the east side of the new building, if needs require.

The proposed facility will be constructed on the same lot as the current facility, on 6^th Street between C and D Streets. The new building will be built on the southwest of the current facility. Once the new station is operational, the current building will be demolished. The footprint of the current building will become the new public parking lot.