Budget planners wait to see what stimulus bill will bring

By Terry Murry on Thursday, March 11th, 2021 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories

HERMISTON – The city of Hermiston is working on a new budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1. Assistant City Manager Mark Morgan said that last year’s budget work was slowed by worrying about how big a bite the COVID-19 pandemic would take from the city coffers. This year, it’s the opposite, as officials wait to hear how much federal funding from the latest stimulus package will come their way.

“That will have a very significant but as yet undetermined impact on the city of Hermiston’s budget,” Morgan said.

Morgan said that there’s a total of about $365 billion in the package that is earmarked for state and local COVID relief. What’s less clear is just how that amount will be divided.

“It’s been very difficult to track down anything more specific than that top-line figure over the past several weeks,” Morgan said. “I think it’s largely because that number has been evolving and getting chewed over.”