The Dalles budget reduced by $2.4 million, spending targets police, housing, infrastructure

“We moved quite a substantial amount of our money that was in the reserve for future expenditure over to the capital projects fund,” said Finance Director Angie Wilson.

Spending aims at upgrades

A major focus of the budget is targeted at public safety departments, including the police, code enforcement and animal control.

“Enhancing public safety through our police department is a priority to ensure adequate support and training for staff,” City Manager Matthew Klebes said.

The police department will receive increased funding aimed at increasing staffing, approximately doubling the code enforcement budget, adding two new police vehicles to replace high-mileage vehicles and retrofitting other vehicles, among other expenses.

The city has also entered into a new contract with the Columbia Gorge Humane Society to  improve animal control services. The city’s proposed budget document noted that the contract is charging a substantially higher rate than the city’s previous 2013 contract.

“City staff is confident the advantages associated with the new agreement are commensurate  with the increased cost,” the budget stated.

In 2025, The Dalles Police Department plans to implement new CAD and RMS software, focus  on recruiting a diverse workforce, and expand efforts to enhance officer wellness.

Additionally, the department listed goals to engage with the business community to reduce theft  and execute community policing strategies through events like National Night Out and the downtown Halloween celebration.

Housing Production Strategy to address low supply, houselessness

Addressing housing supply and homelessness is another cornerstone of the budget. Funds have been allocated for a Housing Production Strategy mandated by the State of Oregon and capital projects aimed at reducing barriers to housing development.

“The Gloria Center has been completed with financial support from the city, continuing our efforts to address homelessness,” Klebes noted.

Additionally, the budget includes continued support for local organizations such as the  Mid-Columbia Community Action Council and the Mid-Columbia Center for Living to provide  services to those in need.

Infrastructure, amenities spending: Fiscal sustainability

The proposed budget allocates $750,000 to the street department toward the city’s road maintenance. This funding is part of a broader focus on infrastructure, including updates to the  water master plan and the initiation of a wastewater master plan update. Significant transfers to the Capital Improvement Fund will continue to support city facilities and  infrastructure maintenance. These funds will address the needs of various public amenities, including The Dalles Columbia River Commercial Dock, Lewis and Clark Park, and downtown street trees.

“Support for various downtown amenities aligns with our goal to enhance livability,” Klebes said.

The city will continue its partnership with Northern Wasco County Parks and Recreation for several community projects.

This year the city will coordinate with artists to paint murals on the Lewis and Clark Park roundabout.

“There’s a number of murals there, believe it or not, but they’re extremely faded,” said Klebes.

Another notable line item is the development of additional T hangars at the Columbia Gorge Regional Airport.

“This will create new revenue sources for the airport and contribute towards fiscal sustainability,” Klebes said.

Council spends on local programs, stipends

The city council’s budget has seen notable increases, particularly the mayor’s stipend increased from $200 to $500, while city councilors’ stipends rose from $100 to $400.

“The stipends are intended to provide resources to remove barriers such as childcare and work-related issues,” Klebes said.

The budget also includes allocations for cultural partnerships, such as ongoing support for the Sister Cities Program and new projects with The Dalles Art Center.

An increase in the technology department’s budget reflects the city’s commitment to supporting IT infrastructure and cybersecurity.

“We want to ensure we have the staff to support changes and mitigate cybersecurity threats,” Klebes said.

The department will also see the addition of new positions to support the IT director and systems administration, further bolstering the city’s technological capabilities.

Discussions during the meeting highlighted the consideration of new funding requests, including the LINK Public Transportation and the Beautification and Tree Committee.

Some deliberation occurred regarding a one-time request for $25,000 from the SafeSpace Children’s Advocacy Center, which provides a one-stop place for child victims of sexual abuse  to recount their experience just one time for medical, police and legal purposes.

“The facility itself is quite expensive, and then they’ve expanded the number of providers because they had been, unfortunately, having so many children coming in that needed service,” said Councilor Darcy Long.

Klebes said this request came past the city council’s deadline. “Making decisions that fund requests that were received after that [deadline] undermines that process,” he said.

Councilor Dan Richardson asked for leniency, saying, “I also take your point that we need to have a process and we need to stick to it not undermine it, and there are many worthy projects  and ideas to support in our community. Just personally, philosophically, I feel that kids in abusive or dangerous circumstances need a little extra support and advocacy because they can do very little of that for themselves. So I’m interested in flexing that, specifically for this request, or at least talking about that.”

At the end of the second day of budget meetings, the council voted to fund SafeSpace’s request out of the future expenses fund.

Library to be more unified with county

The budget also addresses library services, with the finalization of a new Intergovernmental  Agreement (IGA) with the Wasco County Library District. This agreement, which has been a subject of tense discussion, involves a 50/50 split between the city of The Dalles and the Wasco  County Library Services District for capital improvements of the library building, including landscaping, roofing, and a new H-Vac system.

Library Director Jeff Wavrunek kicked off his presentation with a pickleball joke, but honed in on  the library’s goals and expenses.

Wavrunek noted that library assets coming out of the county budget are available to be circulated with other library services in Wasco County, not only libraries in Dufur and Maupin,  but also library stations in Tygh Valley and Shaniko.

“The library district itself is more of a conduit to give them the tax funds to operate,” he said. “We’re becoming more unified, because I’m going to be paying directly from the county budget  for their computers or technology, their books.”

Councilor Tim McLoughlin, who acted as chair in the meeting due to the absence of Mayor Rich Mays, asked Klebes if the concerns brought up by the Library Services District in the Wasco County Commissioners meeting earlier this month had been resolved.

“There were a couple points that needed to be ironed out,” Klebes replied, “but I’m very confident, as I mentioned in my budget message last night, that that’ll be accepted by the  Wasco County Library Service District.”

The Wasco County Commissioners meeting on May 15 noted a signing of the IGA which included revisions outlining a new dispute resolution process, and a shortening of the IGA’s term  from five years to three years.

“We really need to preserve our library system,” said McLoughlin. “It’s one of our assets of our community. It’s one of the things that attracted my wife and I 50 years ago to move to The Dalles was such a great library system that we have in our community.”