HERMISTON — The city of Hermiston’s budget committee is recommending the city council pass a proposed 2021-22 budget that is $11.2 million larger than the previous year.

City Manager Byron Smith told the committee the 19.5% increase was due to a number of large capital projects the city is undertaking in the coming year. Those include construction of a new city hall, an infrastructure project at the South Hermiston Industrial Park, resurfacing the apron at the Hermiston Municipal Airport and various water and sewer projects.

Some of the city’s capital projects will be paid for at least in part by grants from the state or federal government. The $2 million airport project, for example, will be covered by a combination of money from the Federal Aviation Administration and Oregon Department of Aviation.

Smith said the pandemic didn’t affect some of the city’s revenues, including the transient room tax, as much as feared, but the city did lose about $800,000 on the parks and recreation side.

The proposed budget includes a 1% cost of living increase for staff in July 2021 and a 1.5% increase that will take effect in 2022 if revenues come in as expected. The budget includes a one-person increase in staff, from the equivalent of 121.47 full-time employees to 122.47 FTE with the hiring of an extra water utility worker.