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Baker council adopts canvass of special-election returns, introduces 10-mill fire millage ordinance
Summary
At its July 14 meeting the Baker City Council adopted the canvass of returns from a June 27 special election and introduced ordinance 2026-25 to levy a 10-mill ad valorem tax for 10 years to fund a third fire engine and pay raises for fire department personnel; the ordinance will return for a public hearing in two weeks.
The Baker City Council on July 14 adopted a resolution canvassing the results of a June 27 special election and moved to introduce ordinance 2026-25, which would levy a 10-mill ad valorem tax for 10 years beginning in 2027 to fund salaries for a third engine and increase pay and benefits for city fire-department personnel.
The council called the roll by district and the presiding officer announced the motion to adopt the canvass-of-returns resolution carried. The ordinance itself was read as an introduction; the presiding officer said a public hearing is scheduled in two weeks and that the council cannot adopt the ordinance at the same meeting.
"This is an introduction, colleagues. We still have to come back for the public hearing," the presiding officer said, explaining that the ballot measure and subsequent process require the public-hearing step before final action.
During the introduction a resident, Johnny McQuarter, approached the mic and asked, "My question is where is this new engine? Where will it be stationed?" McQuarter gave his address on record and asked whether a new fire station had been built or whether the station location had been on the ballot. The presiding officer answered that the third engine will be based at a new fire station "across the tracks" and said the vote funds staffing and salaries associated with the engine.
The ordinance text (introduced as ordinance 2026-25) directs the levy and collection of a 10-mill ad valorem tax on assessed valuation of property within the city for a 10-year period (2027—2036) "for the purpose of providing funds for salaries for 3rd engine personnel and increasing the salaries and benefits for all employees of the fire department," per the ordinance language read into the record.
Next steps: the council will hold the public hearing on the ordinance in two weeks; after the public hearing the council may take final action. The introduction was procedural and did not by itself change tax law or rates.
Provenance: introduction and discussion appeared in the meeting record beginning with the attorney's reading of the ordinance and the council's procedural discussion (introduction: SEG 339—SEG 346; public comment by Johnny McQuarter: SEG 840—SEG 859; roll-call vote on canvass: SEG 421—SEG 435).
