Oregon Community Foundation outlines endowment option as Gilliam County weighs using host fees for early learning

Valerie Runquist, a senior program officer at the Oregon Community Foundation, described the foundation's endowment partners program to the Gilliam County Court on Feb. 19, outlining how a county endowment would be established, invested and distributed and what legal and practical implications a transfer would carry.

Runquist told commissioners that establishing a permanent endowment at the foundation requires a legal transfer of ownership of donated funds; minimums include a $25,000 opening transfer and a signed fund agreement. She said the foundation uses pooled investment vehicles managed under oversight from its board and an investment consultant and applies a modest, board-approved payout rate to an averaged market value to create a predictable annual distribution. "Our payout rate for the calendar year 2025 is 4.1%," Runquist said, explaining that the rate is intended to balance current distributions with inflation protection over the long term.

The county has an early learning sustainability line item created in the Economic Enhancement (host fee) ordinance; commissioners said the host-fee change could produce roughly $1 million this year and asked whether that money could be placed in an endowment to support early learning and childcare. Runquist said she would provide the county a spreadsheet projection tool used by other organizations and that Oregon Community Foundation staff would draft a fund agreement for the county's review. She also said the foundation's standard agreements no longer include a clause allowing fundholders to redeem the endowment principal, though the foundation's gift acceptance committee could discuss limited flexibility in a bespoke agreement. "Our model is true permanent endowment," Runquist said, adding that allowing redemptions could be financially risky if done during market downturns.

Commissioners pressed on governance, fee levels and investment costs. Runquist said administrative fees for endowment partner funds start at 0.5% and decline with size, and that investment-management costs (which vary by underlying managers) were about 0.88% in a recent snapshot; she said reported returns are net of investment costs. Commissioners raised the county's need for contingency and noted existing unappropriated enhancement-fee balances that could be used for short-term needs.

Runquist said the foundation has experience with municipal and nonprofit funds but that a formal county relationship would be a first for her program. She offered to continue the conversation with county staff and to send the projection spreadsheet and sample fund agreement to county staff for review.

The court did not vote on any transfer or agreement at the meeting. Commissioners directed staff and the budget committee to review the host-fee ordinance, examine distribution options (including retaining funds under county control versus transferring to an outside endowment), and to consider the timing of any budget or ordinance changes. Runquist said she would be available to provide additional materials and calculations on request.

Runquist's presentation and the ordinance discussion left outstanding items for legal and financial review, including whether the county treasurer's statutory duty to hold and disburse host-fee receipts affects a permanent transfer and whether a customized fund agreement should include limited redemption language.