La Grande budget committee to hold public hearings on 2026-27 plans
La Grande will hear 2026-27 budget and downtown renewal plans May 11-12, with virtual comments due May 8 and millions in spending choices on the table.
La Grande residents will get their first public chance to weigh in on the city’s 2026-27 budget and urban renewal spending when the La Grande Budget Committee meets at 6 p.m. Monday, May 11, at the F. Maxine and Thomas W. Cook Memorial Library, 2006 Fourth Street. The committee will continue the next evening, Tuesday, May 12, at 6 p.m. at the same location for more deliberation and public comment, with virtual speakers required to contact city staff by 5 p.m. Friday, May 8. Speakers generally will be limited to three minutes.
The hearings matter because they will help set the city’s next round of decisions on taxes, city services, downtown investment and project priorities. Urban renewal money has been central to that discussion for years in La Grande, where the Urban Renewal Plan was adopted Nov. 17, 1999, and the La Grande Urban Renewal Area now covers about 526 acres. The agency says its goals are to revitalize downtown, create family-wage jobs and promote retail development, goals that tie directly to how the city directs money into buildings, streetscapes and business support.
The scale of the district shows why those hearings draw close attention. In fiscal year 2024-25, the frozen base assessed value in the urban renewal area was $156,362,826, while total assessed value reached $198,179,102. That left $41,816,276 in excess value taxed by the Urban Renewal Agency. Those figures set the backdrop for how much money the district can direct toward projects, debt service and programming in the year ahead.
Last spring, the budget committee recommended a $2.4 million general fund budget for the La Grande Urban Renewal Agency for 2025-26. That proposal included $1.35 million in project funding, $350,000 for the annual call for projects and $75,000 for the Facade Grant Program. It also raised La Grande Mainstreet Downtown’s support from $25,000 to $40,000, with about $925,000 of project funding carried over from the prior year and roughly $800,000 in new property tax revenue needed for debt service and programs.
The city reopened its annual call for projects on March 9, 2026, with applications due May 15. The typical allocation is $350,000, grants can cover up to half of project costs and top out at $75,000 per project, and eligible projects must cost at least $20,000 and be ready to begin within six months of award. That deadline lands just days after the budget hearings, putting downtown rehabilitation, private investment and public spending on the same spring timetable in La Grande.
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