UMATILLA COUNTY — The merger to create the East Umatilla Fire & Rescue District is complete.

According to results from Umatilla County Elections, voters resoundingly said yes on Tuesday night to dissolving the East Umatilla County Rural Fire Protection District and the Helix Rural Fire Protection District, and the vote for Measure 30-144 to form the new district passed with 72% by the end of the night.

As a result, the East Umatilla and Helix fire districts will now merge with the Athena Volunteer Fire Department and the East Umatilla County Ambulance Area Health District under the umbrella of one taxing district.

“We’re really pleased,” said Dave Baty, chief of East Umatilla County Rural Fire Protection. “We’re happy that we can continue to provide service to the people that we do.”

The four agencies have worked together in an intergovernmental agreement since last July and have been headquartered at the Weston fire station with a board of members from each agency.

While this means services won’t change as a result of the merger, residents of Helix, Athena, Weston, Adams and surrounding areas will pay about $2 per $1,000 of assessed value for both emergency ambulance and fire services.

Prior to Tuesday’s vote, the East Umatilla fire and ambulance districts were each already funded with $1 per $1,000 assessed value tax rate, while Helix residents were paying 43 cents per $1,000 of assessed value. Athena residents were covered by a $30,000 annual donation from the city.

The merged districts are expected to raise an additional $120,000 in funding for its services.

Now, Baty and the agencies are working through the next administrative steps as they prepare to officially make the switch to one unified district.

“We won’t have boundary lines anymore,” Baty said. “We’re just one big family.”

Along with three district merging measures, voters approved a public transportation tax for Milton-Freewater and a bond for the Echo Fire District.

With just 359 total votes reported by Umatilla County Elections, Measure 30-140 will impose an estimated tax rate of $0.375 per $1,000 assessed value and raise $62,625 per year for the Echo Fire District passed at 58% of the vote. The funds raised will pay for a 10-year general obligation bond to purchase firefighting equipment and add a bay to the existing fire station on West Main Street in Echo.

Measure 30-141 was a five-year tax option that has helped pay for Milton-Freewater’s public transportation system since 1971 and was once again passed by voters with 62% of the vote. The tax is projected to raise $60,000 at a rate of 37 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value, which is the same rate it was when it first passed in 1971.