The West Umatilla Vector Control District board will vote on the 2010-11 budget next week.

In a meeting Friday morning, the board met with Umatilla County Commissioner Dennis Doherty to go over next fiscal year’s budget. While no action was taken, the board did have lengthy discussions regarding particular line items.

The district has two local option levies and the permanent tax rate to draw from for expenses, said Ron Montgomery, district manager. This is the last year for the local option levy for 5 cents per $1,000 of assessed value. In November, voters approved an additional local option levy for 9 cents per $1,000 of assessed value.

With the $.2021 permanent tax rate, that gives the district $.3421 per $1,000 of assessed value to use for the district’s business.

Montgomery estimates that the district will receive $765,210 from county property owners. He estimated that at least 5.95 percent of property owners will not pay their taxes – which equals about $45,530 – and the district will more than likely lose at least $15,500 due to compression in Hermiston.

The City of Hermiston is levying the maximum it can again this year. Once those numbers are subtracted, Montgomery said, tax money to balance the budget will be $704,180.

District Chair Don Hanson nominated Janie Cueller, the district’s bookkeeper, to be the clerk of the board. The board approved the appointment. Cueller will report directly to the chair to assist in the set up of agendas.

A discussion was held regarding whether or not to hire board members’ or employees’ relatives. In the past, family members have been hired, but Hanson was concerned about the issue.

Board member Pat Wood made a motion to not hire family members with the exception of those who have already worked at the district. However, it did not receive a second and was not brought to a vote.

Part of the reason Doherty was at the meeting is because the Board of Commissioners have been concerned how the board has functioned in the past year or so. Two former board members, who resigned this year, went to the commissioners, to explain why they resigned and asking for the commissioners’ help.

Doherty suggested the board look at the district’s policies as it has been quite some time since the board adjusted or looked at the district’s policies. Montgomery said the policies are canned policies from the national vector control and have not been reviewed in a long time. Doherty also suggested the board put together a work plan for the year. The board will discuss this in a future meeting.

The next Vector Control meeting is at 3:30 p.m. on June 25 at the district office 3005 S. First St. in Hermiston. The public is invited to attend.