Budget committee to meet again
By Terry Murry on Monday, May 15th, 2023 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
HERMISTON – The Hermiston Budget Committee did not approve the proposed budget at its Thursday night meeting. Assistant City Manager Mark Morgan said that the committee wants to look at the possibility of making cuts to the plan as opposed to simply approving a short-term loan from the city’s utility fund.
He said the budget included $375,000 to hire three new police officers.
“One of their recommendations that was talked about quite a bit was there’s $375,000 that can come out of the budget right off the top before we even really start talking about some of those other things,” Morgan said.
Hermiston not only has a growing population, but it also is seeing growth in crimes.
“I think the budget committee recognized that,” Morgan said. “But I think they also realized that in the policing world across the country it is extremely competitive to find applicants and also retaining existing officers. The discussion was really centered around making sure that they take care of the existing folks, i.e. maintaining a three percent cost of living adjustment.”
Morgan did say that the short-term loan proposed by City Manager Byron Smith was for money that was not going to be spent in this budget and would be repaid quickly.
