D21 seeks members for Bond Planning for capital improvements projects

From District 21:

North Wasco County School District is seeking interested individuals to sit on a Community Bond Planning Committee. As a community-driven process, we are seeking interested parents from each of our district schools, students, and community and business partners to join school and district staff on this committee.

Collectively, this group will meet to discuss issues and needs such as safety, security, accessibility, capacity and overall facility needs to help identify and prioritize capital improvement projects.

The group will make recommendations for a potential bond measure to the North Wasco County School Board Board of Directors. The committee application can be found on the North Wasco County School District website.

From CCCNews:

D21 gets cut of Google Fees

The Dalles City Council and Wasco County Commissioners have unanimously approved an Intergovernmental Agreement with 11 different taxing districts to share Google community service fee dollars which comes to 25% of Google’s property tax savings with a maximum payment of  $2.5 million annually.

The agreement essentially provides a road map on how up to $37.5 million would be spent locally over the 20-year deal with Google for tax abatements on the new data centers. 

The money will be split straight down the percentages of 11 different tax districts.

In addition to City, County and Fire,  North Wasco County Parks and Recreation, Port of The Dalles, Wasco County 4-H and Extension, Wasco County Library, Wasco County Soil and Water and Wasco County will receive portions of the money.

But here’s the kicker.

The above taxing districts have also agreed to cut a piece of the pie for North Wasco County School District 21, Columbia Gorge Community College and Columbia Gorge Education Service District., which typically receive funding through the State’s general fund.

This could be a real boon for D21 which is dealing with aged schools that, arguably, need to be replaced. D21 will receive the lion's share of the fee at 30.1%.

Mayor Rich Mays said the agreement potentially could give D21 $500,000 per year during the terms of the agreement. These are tax dollars that are not counted in the general state taxing fund for schools. Rather, the District can use the money at its discretion.

Councilor Dan Richardson applauded the agreement and noted in his opinion the “single most important greater good” would be building a new high school in The Dalles.