BMCC postpones FARM II groundbreaking
By Terry Murry on Tuesday, September 12th, 2023 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
PENDLETON – The groundbreaking ceremony scheduled for FARM II on Sept. 18 has been postponed until next month. Blue Mountain Community College President Mark Browning said that they want to be sure that everything is as anticipated before they dig their shovels into the earth west of the Pendleton Convention Center.
“We’ve run into a bit of an obstacle with the potential for property taxation,” he said. “The college is a public entity, in fact we’re a taxing district ourselves, and so we have been exempt from paying taxation.”
Browning said he was confident the taxation issue could be resolved, but with Round-Up happening this week, there was not enough time to fully research the issue. He also said that the college will probably not be able to build the indoor arena and classroom facility if it must pay unanticipated property taxes.
“We put a $13 million building on top of this ground and then ending up with a $250,000 a year tax bill that wasn’t budgeted for could be pretty crippling to the entire project,” he said.
The Oregon Legislature failed to provide additional funding for FARM II this year, so while construction is going to begin on the building itself, the college is still short the money needed to build the outside stalls that are necessary for rodeo and equestrian events. Browning said the college will try again when the legislature convenes in January 2024.
Due to funding issues, the previous rendering of FARM II showed in the past is no longer current. This is the current rendering from Bouten Construction.
