City of St. Helens Measure 5-311 General Services Fee

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 27, 2026

St. Helens, Ore. –  The City of St. Helens is sharing information about Measure 5-311, a general services fee proposal that will appear on the May 19, 2026, ballot.

If passed, the Measure would authorize a fee of $24 per month or $288 per year for each equivalent dwelling unit for the first year to support City of St. Helens General Fund services. The fee would be charged to the person responsible for paying the City of St. Helens utility account for water, sewer, and stormwater services for each equivalent dwelling unit.

An equivalent dwelling unit means the number of living units or office and commercial spaces per building. Examples include, but are not limited to, a single-family residence is one EDU, a duplex is two EDUs, an apartment complex EDU is per total number of apartment units, and an RV park EDU is per hook-up.

The proposed fee would raise an estimated $146,496 per month in Fiscal Year 2026/2027 which begins July 1, 2026. The fee would go into effect starting July 1, 2026, and expire June 30, 2036. After the first five years, the St. Helens Budget Committee would review the fee and make a recommendation to the St. Helens City Council about its continuation.  If the fee continues for ten years, it would raise approximately $19,988,000 based on an assumed growth of one percent and three percent Consumer Price Increase for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) per year.

If the Measure passes, the fee would increase by not more than three percent per year. The exact amount of the fee increase would mirror the CPI-U in the West Region as of December of the prior year.

Money raised from the fee would be used to support the following services in the City’s General Fund:

• Police Services (patrol, investigations, emergency response)
• Library Services (public access, youth programming, technology support, literacy)
• Recreation Program (Community Center and youth programs)
• Parks (13 parks with 204 acres of public open space, parks maintenance, livability)
• Community Development (building permits, land use, tourism, economic development, livability)
• Administration and Financial Services (utility billing, licensing, compliance, support to Council, boards, and commissions, recordkeeping)
• Municipal Court (justice, compliance, victim restitution, livability)
• Information Technology (operating systems)

If the Measure does not pass, the proposed fee would not be charged. Staffing, programs and services for police, library, parks, recreation, community development, administration, information technology (IT), and municipal court services would not be provided as proposed.

This information was reviewed by the Oregon Elections Division for compliance with ORS 260.432.

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For further information regarding the City of St. Helens Measure 3-111 General Services Fee, please contact Communications Officer Crystal King at cking@sthelensoregon.gov.