MORROW COUNTY — Ahead of the May 20 election, the Morrow County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to support the school bond measure on the ballot.

The commissioners on Wednesday, April 30, during a special session in Heppner signed a letter of support for the bond, Measure 25-104. The bond amount of $204.4 million, if approved, would fund renovations to school buildings in Irrigon, Boardman and Heppner as well as add security measures, such as cameras, for schools across Morrow County School District.

The bond is being proposed in tandem with a state grant for $6 million to the district that requires approved bond funds before allocating the money.

“This bond represents a crucial investment in our schools, community, and most importantly, our students’ futures,” said the commissioners in the letter of support. “The bond proposal follows a year of diligent work by the district’s Community Bond Advisory Committee (CBAC) and incorporates comprehensive assessments of facility needs and feedback from community members.”

The estimated rate is $2.99 per $1,000 of assessed property value. The commissioners’ letter said industrial and utility companies pay 72% of property taxes in the county. According to the school district’s website for the bond, for a person in Morrow County who owns a $225,000 home, the cost based on the estimated bond rate would be $673 per year or $56 per month.

“This is an opportunity to modernize our schools, ensure the safety of students, and create environments where they can thrive academically and socially,” said the commissioners. “Supporting Measure 25-104 is an investment in the long-term success and growth of our community.”

Matt Combe, superintendent for Morrow County School District, said this year’s bond measure is similar to a failed measure from 2022, though the structural and systemic issues have gotten worse since then, and prices have gone up, too.

“A pretty safe bet is that anything that doesn’t happen today is only going to cost more in the future,” he said.

The Community Bond Advisory Committee recommended the county support the bond, he said, after more than a year of work compiling lists of everything that needs to be fixed, including razing Irrigon Jr/Sr High School and rebuilding, which was cheaper than upgrading the current building.

Really, what this bond will do, Combe said, is help improve students’ learning environment. The funding isn’t for the bond advisory committee or the school district, he said, it’s for the students.

“In any community, people before us made sure we had nice schools and educational facilities,” said Combe. “I do feel like it’s time for us to pay it forward to the next generation of students.”

People looking for more information should check mcsdbond.org, which has a frequently asked questions section along with detailed information about the measure.