City Council Adopts $179.7 Million 2020-21 Budget
The Corvallis City Council voted Monday to approve an annual budget totaling $179,764,500 for Fiscal Year 2020-2021. The Council’s action was the final step in the annual budget process, which began in May with a series of Budget Commission meetings and included deliberations, analysis and feedback from the public.
The new budget goes into effect on July 1, when the City of Corvallis begins its new fiscal year.
This year’s budget was developed and finalized even as the COVID-19 pandemic took hold in Oregon and quickly upended virtually all aspects of life in Corvallis. The City Manager declared a local emergency on March 13, which closed City buildings and temporarily suspended all non-essential City meetings. The joint city-county Emergency Operation Center quickly mobilized to support Benton County’s local healthcare system. In spite of that, the work of the Budget Commission went on, and the 18-member body (comprised of nine City Councilors and nine community members) did their duty to review and approve the annual City budget.
New Bias Response Funding
The budget’s approval also came amid widespread nationwide protests over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Corvallis Police Chief Jon Sassaman spoke at the beginning of the meeting to offer some perspectives about the high standards that the community expects from the Corvallis Police Department.
“Training is a priority within our organization, and we require annual diversity training with varying topics, to include different cultures, belief systems, building community trust, communication, hate crimes, explicit and implicit bias, white privilege, power structures and more,” Chief Sassaman said. “In addition, our training highlights de-escalation skills and the health and welfare of any person we have in custody.”
CPD is the oldest accredited law enforcement organization in Oregon, having maintained certification under the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) since 1995. The designation requires that the department implement and uphold a high standard of training and outside review.
During the public hearing, Councilors considered a request from the community to allocate $150,000 to a new initiative to fund a bias response initiative for the Corvallis community. Councilors supported the request and voted unanimously to allocate the funding and pursue the initiative.
Long-Term Investments
Despite the uncertainties surrounding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s budget makes investments in several key service areas, including public safety and 9-1-1 emergency communications. The budget also follows through on a commitment to reduce the Police and Fire Service Fees on the City Services bills by $4.27 per month for the average single-family household.
The budget includes a contribution to the City’s long-term reserve fund balance, which helps build a cushion against future disasters or emergencies.
“This budget begins to implement the priorities that the City Council and the Corvallis community identified through new revenue measures enacted last year,” said City Manager Mark Shepard. “We’re moving forward on these and other priorities even as we’re balancing the long-term costs of the current COVID-19 pandemic.”
For more information on the budget process for the City of Corvallis, go to www.corvallisoregon.gov/budget.
