Time running out as stalemate on Google Community Service Fee negotiation persists
North Wasco County School Board Chair Jose Aparicio points out areas of agreement in negotiations last Wednesday, March 9. Districts are willing to cut education districts in on millions of dollars in future Google fees.
By Tom Peterson
The City of The Dalles, Wasco County and Mid-Columbia Fire and Rescue will continue negotiations this evening, March 17, as they try to come to an agreement on how to split future Google Fees when and if two new data centers are built near the Port of The Dalles.
So far, the parties are split on how to cut the pie.
And the clock is ticking.
Local leaders could lose control of the deal if they don’t agree soon, and State executives will call the shots for local residents.
Decisions on how up to $37.5 million is spent locally hang in the balance of whether an agreement between City, County and Fire can be reached or not.
The deadline to get the local deal done actually expires today; however, Wasco County Services Administrator Matthew Klebes said they would request an extension, and it will likely be granted if the state sees progress in the negotiations.
In the event a deal cannot be struck, Oregon Economic Development Agency known as Business Oregon will take control of the process and decide where the local money should be spent - an option that is not favored by most in the process.
Leadership from 13 different taxing districts came together at Columbia Gorge Community College on Wednesday, March 9, to negotiate how future Google Community Service Fees would be divided. A general consensus around putting 50 percent toward larger community projects appeared to gain consensus, however hang ups between City of The Dalles, Wasco County and Mid-Columbia Fire and Rescue are threatening the deal.
Who are the players?
Taxing Districts involved in the negotiations are City of The Dalles, Mid-Columbia Fire & Rescue, North Wasco County Parks and Recreation, Port of The Dalles, Wasco County 4-H and Extension, Wasco County Library, Wasco County Soil and Water and Wasco County.
Furthermore, it appears the above taxing districts are willing to cut local education districts a piece of the pie. They are not legally required to receive any of it. Those districts are Columbia Gorge Community College, North Wasco County School District and Columbia Gorge Education Service District.
However, those three education districts don’t get a vote in the negotiation.
How the deal gets approved
It is a two-step process.
Step One
First, each of the following taxing districts get a weighted voted in the initial negotiation based on the percentage of tax levy they receive. It takes 75 percent of the vote to approve an agreement.
Those districts and their percentage of weighted vote are as follows:
- Mid-Columbia Fire & Rescue - 50 %
- North Wasco County Parks and Recreation - 16%
- Wasco County Library - 16%
- Wasco County 4-H and Extension - 6%
- Wasco County Soil and Water - 6%
- Port of The Dalles - 5%
Take aways: The fire department must agree on the deal or the 75% threshold cannot be met, meaning they hold a lot of power and may be able to exact a larger portion of funds for the services they provide.
Step Two
In a separate vote, Wasco County Commissioners and The Dalles City Council must formally approve the deal - meaning they vote in favore with the taxing districts’ agreement - before it will be accepted by Business Oregon.
Where Things Stand
Currently, the City and Wasco County are at odds with the Fire department, which has drawn a line in the sand at receiving 18.4 percent of the total funds. In the projections used for the Googe Community Service Fee, the County and City are favoring formulas that give the fire department $200,000 annually and the fire Department is standing pat on $300,000 in the scenario.
Conversations were a bit heated in negotiations on Wednesday, March 9, as Wasco County Commissioner Steve Kramer said he was “disappointed” by the fire district’s request for more than its allotted amount based on the district’s levy, noting all the other districts around the table were willing to give funding to larger to-be-decided community project such as parks or revamping schools. Mayor Rich Mays also said the City Council would not approve that rate of funding for the fire district.
During discussions, however, Fire Department Assistant Chief David Jensen said the calls for service were up 20 percent over last year. Fire Department Board Chair David Jacobs said it came down to the district’s need to add 2 staff per shift to cover the current incoming calls.
Jacobs also argued that increased staff would create a better insurance rating for the overall community, bringing insurance rates down for the general public.
It is worth noting the Fire District stands to receive $450,000 annually when the first Google data plant comes on the county tax rolls in 2023.
What has been agreed upon in general
North Wasco County School Board Chair Jose Aparicio pointed out that several items had been agreed to by the group in general during the last negotiation.
Taxing districts had agreed that education districts should receive money from eventual Google Community Service Fees. He also said that the group districts were also willing to dedicate 50 percent of funds to a fund for larger, yet undetermined, projects within The Dalles and Wasco County.
To read more about how Google intends to pay local communities for new data centers click here.
