$15 Million Endowment debate expected Wednesday as Wasco County Looks to invest Google Payments

Wasco County Commission Chair Scott Hege asking questions of County Administrator Tyler Stone back on Aug. 19 in regard to investing Google payments for future county work starting in 2041.

The Dalles, Ore., Aug. 28, 2026 — Wasco County commissioners will consider one of the county’s most consequential long-term financial decisions Wednesday as they weigh creating an endowment that would initially set aside up to $15 million — and funnel future data center and tax-abatement revenues into the fund under rolling 15-year restrictions.

The Board of Commissioners will hold a second public hearing at 9:30 a.m. Sept. 2 on Ordinance 26-003, which would establish the Wasco County Community Endowment and Resiliency Fund. The proposal has strong backing from county administrators, but new public testimony is raising a different question: How much of the county’s extraordinary economic-development revenue should be preserved for the future, and how much should remain available for infrastructure and community needs today?

Under the proposed ordinance, the county would capitalize the fund with up to $15 million currently held in the County Project Fund. Future county-retained revenue from Strategic Investment Program agreements, tax-abatement agreements and other one-time revenues designated by commissioners would also be deposited into the fund, along with investment earnings.

The initial fund generally could not be spent until July 1, 2041. New revenues received from future SIP, tax-abatement or similar economic-development agreements would each begin their own rolling 15-year no-spend period, with investment earnings during that time retained as principal.

After maturity, commissioners could appropriate as much as 75% of the previous fiscal year’s net investment earnings. The remaining 25% would stay in the fund to protect its purchasing power. Eligible uses include major infrastructure projects, economic development, grant matching and certain loans or partnerships. Mature earnings could also be used when necessary to protect existing county positions and essential services.

More On Google Revenue

Data Center 1: Paid $4.7 million in property taxes 2025.

Data Center 2: Pays $800,000 annually, split among the City of The Dalles, Wasco County and School District 21. It is scheduled to go on the property tax rolls in 2031-32, paying millions of dollars in revenue to the county.

Data Center 3: Pays $1.81 million annually in fees split between the city and county. It is scheduled to go on the property tax rolls in 2034-35, paying millions of dollars in revenue to the county.

Data Center 4: Paid $9.81 million in fees, payments and property taxes in 2025.

Data Center 5: Still under development. It is expected to pay more than $9.81 million annually in fees, payments and property taxes after receiving its certificate of occupancy some time in the near future.

Google also paid $3 million each split between the city and county for data centers 4 and 5 when they started the construction of the plants.

Turning Windfall into Longterm Benefit

County leaders have described the proposal as a way to turn temporary economic-development windfalls into a permanent revenue-producing asset.

At the first hearing Aug. 19, county officials said the initial $15 million would be followed by additional deposits as SIP and other revenues are received. Finance Director Mike Middleton said the county’s share from the currently active SIP agreement is about $2.8 million, while a second active agreement could eventually increase that amount to roughly $5.6 million.

County financial modeling presented at that hearing estimated the fund could eventually produce between $2.5 million and $4.5 million annually in usable earnings after maturity.

County officials also pointed to future infrastructure needs as one reason to build a long-term financial reserve. Staff cited an estimated $8 million local match that could be needed for $71.9 million in critical bridge repairs.

The county Management Team, which includes leadership from roughly 17 to 20 departments, unanimously supports the proposal, according to the Aug. 19 meeting minutes. Community Development Director Kelly Howsley-Glover told commissioners that reaching unanimous agreement among the diverse department heads is unusual.

Gambee proposes two-fund alternative

New written testimony from Tygh Valley resident and Wasco County Commission Position 1 candidate Lisa Gambee supports creating an endowment but argues the ordinance understates the amount of future money that would ultimately become restricted.

Gambee calculates that the ordinance, as written, could ultimately commit about $77.8 million — the initial $15 million plus approximately $62.8 million in future revenues — even before counting a final data center included in the broader SIP agreement.

Those figures are Gambee’s calculations contained in her testimony and are not independently verified by county staff in the Sept. 2 packet.

Rather than reject the endowment, Gambee proposes splitting future revenues between the long-term fund and a separate Special Investment Fund that could pay for bridges, community infrastructure and economic-development needs before the endowment matures.

Her proposal takes inspiration from the City of The Dalles’ approach to SIP revenue, which assigns different revenue components to different city funds instead of subjecting all of them to a 15-year restriction.

Under one scenario laid out in her testimony, Gambee calculates about $18.7 million could ultimately go into a Special Investment Fund, while about $55.3 million would go into the endowment.

If a second SIP data center becomes active, Gambee calculates the Special Investment Fund could ultimately receive about $28.7 million and the endowment about $95.6 million.

Gambee argues the two-fund approach would allow Wasco County to preserve a permanent revenue-producing endowment while addressing infrastructure and economic-development needs before 15 years of inflation reduces the value of those dollars.

A second resident, Dean Myerson, submitted a shorter Aug. 27 email expressing a similar concern. Myerson said he supports the endowment concept but believes some urgent county needs should not wait 15 years and suggested setting aside money for immediate capital projects while placing the remainder into the endowment.

The proposed ordinance does allow commissioners to access principal before maturity, but only under narrowly defined catastrophic circumstances. Those include a 20% or greater decline in county tax revenues within a fiscal year or a state or federal disaster requiring a local match exceeding $1 million or 5% of the fund’s principal, whichever is greater. Any withdrawal would require a unanimous board vote and a public hearing, followed by a repayment plan intended to restore the money within no more than 10 fiscal years.

County seeks funding for $800,000-plus fuel tank project

Commissioners will also consider taking the first financial step toward replacing four aging underground fuel tanks operated by Wasco County Public Works.

The county has a 10,000-gallon unleaded tank and a 12,000-gallon diesel tank in The Dalles, along with a 1,000-gallon unleaded tank and 2,000-gallon diesel tank in Wamic. All four are more than 30 years old.

Public Works says the tanks currently comply with Oregon Department of Environmental Quality regulations and testing requirements, but their age creates an increasing risk of leaking or seepage. The county says the tanks need to be decommissioned and replaced with aboveground storage tanks.

The full project is estimated to cost more than $800,000.

The county has been working with Global Grant Services to find financial assistance and has identified Business Oregon’s Industrial Site Loan Fund as a potential source. The county wants to seek a $225,000 forgivable loan to pay for planning, environmental assessment and engineering needed to decommission the underground tanks.

Commissioners are not being asked Wednesday to approve the overall replacement project. Instead, they will consider authorizing Public Works Director Arthur Smith to sign and submit the Business Oregon application on the county’s behalf.

The packet does not say how the county would pay the remaining cost of the $800,000-plus project.

Drone grant could shift to mobile 911 dispatch center

Commissioners will also consider redirecting a federal Homeland Security Grant that was originally intended to purchase a small unmanned aircraft system.

County Emergency Management says federal requirements, funding restrictions and domestic supply-chain compliance concerns have made the proposed drone purchase impractical within the remaining grant period. The county instead wants to use the federal award to outfit a mobile 911 dispatch center.

The mobile center could be deployed if the county’s primary dispatch facility becomes inaccessible, evacuated, compromised or disconnected from regular communications infrastructure. Plans call for P25-compatible public-safety radios, FirstNet cellular redundancy and Starlink satellite connectivity.

County staff cited recent wildfire activity as an example of why redundant communications are needed, noting the potential for road closures, utility outages, evacuation orders, damaged infrastructure and loss of commercial communications during large-scale emergencies.

The Oregon Department of Emergency Management amendment would extend the federal grant period from Sept. 30, 2026, to June 2027 and formally change the project from the unmanned aircraft purchase to the mobile dispatch vehicle.

The county memo lists the original drone allocation at $20,412 but the proposed mobile dispatch equipment allocation at $20,142, a $270 difference that is not explained in the packet. The memo nevertheless describes the amendment as budget neutral and says no additional county general fund contribution is being requested as part of the change unless required by the final approved grant budget.

The meeting begins at 9 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 2, at the Wasco County Board of Commissioners meeting room, 401 E. Third St. in The Dalles, with a virtual attendance option also available. The endowment hearing is scheduled for approximately 9:30 a.m.

Excerpt: Wasco County commissioners will weigh a long-term endowment Wednesday as residents question whether potentially tens of millions in data center revenue should be locked away for 15 years or partly invested in infrastructure now.