Commissioners adopt 4-H and Extension Service District budget

ALBANY — Prior to the regular meeting of the Linn County Board of Commissioners Tuesday morning, the 2023-24 4-H and Extension Service budget was adopted by Commissioners Sherrie Sprenger and Will Tucker.

Commissioner Roger Nyquist was not present.

The adopted budget will be $1,006,097 with a tax rate of 7 cents per $1,000 of property valuation. It was previously approved by the 4-H and Extension Service District Budget Committee.

The budget includes: materials and services, $850,546; capital outlay, $98,551; transfers, $22,000; contingency fund, $35,000.

Linn County’s 2023-24 budget is scheduled for adoption at 9 a.m. on Thursday, June 27, second floor board room of the Linn County Courthouse.

In other business, the commissioners:

• Approved a permanent easement at Goldfish Farm Road for $15,453 with Thomas A. and Mary J. Fields.
• Approved an Intergovernmental Agreement with the Oregon Health Authority not to exceed $738,232. This is an extension to a previous agreement for the Behavioral Health Workforce Initiative to provide sign-on bonuses for new Behavioral Health Clinical staff. The agreement will expire on June 30, 2024.
• Approved an extension of the fire hardening grant program to assist property owners in the Santiam Canyon who are rebuilding from the September 2020 wildfires. The grant money is used to help the property owners purchase and install fire-resistant building materials.
• Were told by Juvenile Director Torri Lynn that his department is seeing an uptick in youth. Last month, there were six young people from Benton County, 24 from Linn County and four from Lincoln County. He said there were 38 referrals and there are 195 young people in the Probation Unit. 36 of them are considered high-risk. The Tier I work crew completed 91.25 hours of community service in nine project days. In 2022, five youth completed 66.25 hours of community service in the same time period. The Tier II work crew, had nine youth complete 177.75 hours of projects in nine project days, compared to 18 youth completing 395 hours in the same time period a year ago.
• Approved a day rate of $175 with Marion County if beds are needed. In 2022, Marion County had a similar contract and did not use any beds. Approved a contract with Benton County for four beds at the Linn Benton Juvenile Detention Center at $305.12 per day. Benton County will be billed quarterly, $111,413.75, or $445,655 total. Approved a contract with Dr. Daniel Mosher to provide medical services, not to exceed $76,800.
• Announced there likely won’t be a regular Board of Commissioners meeting on Tuesday, July 4, unless necessary.

Media contact: Alex Paul, Linn County Communications Officer, 541-967-3825 or email apaul@co.linn.or.us.