Story by Rodger Nichols for Gorge Country Media
The Dalles City Council substituted a budget committee meeting for their regular meeting last night, and it was a three and a half hour marathon as category after category was presented. Tonight at 5:30 is the final night, and the first chance for the public to comment on the budget.
One of the areas of great interest is what happens with the revenue from the two newest Google data centers, which is calculated with a three-part algorithm. City Manager Matthew Klebes outlined the disposition of the three-part payment:
“Property taxes from those two new data centers in the general fund. The fees from the community service fund would be received in our capital improvement fund. And then the guaranteed annual payment would be received in our special enterprise zone fund, reserved for infrastructure investments, primarily generational level infrastructure investments, such as replacing our water treatment plant, to help mitigate our rate increases.”
Police Chief Tom Worthy brought a batch of goals for his department:
“Not the least of which is the CAD/RMS product. CAD is for Computer Aided Dispatch, RMS means Record Management System. Every police department has these tools And our tools are distinctly aged in this city. Many of you have heard me discuss this particular issue. And our current CAD system looks like we’re playing Oregon Trail.”
He noted that yesterday was Police Officer Memorial Day and this week is National Police Week.
“Our officers are out working in the city. They work weekends, holidays, all hours and in all conditions. They are committed to the well-being of the City of The Dalles, and will absolutely run, to any emergency for which they are called, I assure of that. Last year, we responded for 18,264 calls for service. I ask you, ‘How many of those is it OK for us to get wrong?’ None.”
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