Our view: City, county should maximize tax dollars
Published 3:00 pm Monday, March 18, 2024
- The sign outside the law enforcement building at 1109 K Ave., La Grande, directs people to the services they need. The building, shown here on March 3, 2023, houses the La Grande Police Department, Union County Sheriff's Office, 911 dispatch center and Union County Correctional Center.
Two of the most crucial elements to any town or county are the ability and the desire to support emergency services.
Our police and fire agencies not only deserve to be prioritized in terms of taxpayer dollars, but spending money on either is an investment in the future and in the safety of us all.
Yet the idea of creating a separate, standalone La Grande Police Department facility has always been one of those ideas that sounds nice but may not be ready for prime time.
Last week, we reported that a new police facility could cost the city $18.4 million. The city has already spent an undisclosed amount of money to hire an outside consultant to review the idea.
At the same time the Union County Sheriff’s Office is also studying a plan for a new facility.
The question that lingers — and apparently has no answer — is would it not be more cost-effective for the city and the county to work together and create a new, multiuse facility that serves both the sheriff’s office and the city police department?
Now, the sheriff’s office and the police department use a single facility. That facility is too small and crowded and no one doubts a new way forward is needed.
Yet since this project — whether it is a standalone facility for the sheriff’s office or the city police department — will be paid for through tax dollars, it would seem to us that taxpayer cash should be used in a way that, for lack of a better term, gets the most bang for its buck.
The idea of creating a standalone police department has been thrown around for years, and there is some merit to the idea. Yet Union County does not boast an inexhaustible tax base. Working-class folks that see money drift out of their bank accounts every month for city and county services don’t have a money tree that grows in their backyard where they can deftly gather cash.
That means any idea, such as a new police facility, needs to be carefully considered. Right now, it seems it would make more sense for the county and city to work together to come up with a new plan, which would help both the sheriff’s office and the city police.
