Pendleton, Hermiston get early notice on dispatch rates
By Terry Murry on Wednesday, February 4th, 2026 in Columbia Basin News Columbia Basin Top Stories
UMATILLA COUNTY – The cost of providing emergency dispatch services is going up for the next fiscal year. Police and fire departments received a communication from Umatilla County outlining the increases.
Two officials involved in the budgeting process were grateful to receive them well in advance. In the past, such notices hadn’t arrived until after budgets for both cities had been established.
“We did receive information about the new rates,” Hermiston City Manager Byron Smith wrote. “The percentage increase was not as high as it had been so that was good, and I appreciated getting more advanced notice of the rates than I had been getting in the past. I don’t think we really have a long-term solution to the rates yet, so I hope we will continue to have discussions with the county and all of the user entities.”
“In years past we’ve had it after we’ve done the budget so it’s very difficult to kind of guesstimate what things are going to be,” Pendleton Lt. Tony Nelson, who will become police chief on March 31, said. “It is going up. I don’t like it, but I’m going to accept it. So now, at least, we can plan appropriately on how much that’s going to be.”
The Hermiston, Pendleton, Umatilla, Stanfield, Echo, and Pilot Rock police departments use Umatilla County Emergency Dispatch. Fire and emergency medical service agencies who are subscribers include Umatilla County Fire District No. 1, Pendleton, Umatilla, Echo, Pilot Rock, and East Umatilla Fire & Rescue.
