Union County commissioners advance $802,203 in rural schools funding

The Union County Board of Commissioners voted July 1 to elect Secure Rural Schools payments and move ahead with how the money will be divided, putting the county in line for $802,203 for fiscal year 2026-27. The decision does not drop cash into county accounts yet, but it keeps Union County inside the federal timetable needed to claim the funding.

Secure Rural Schools helps rural counties cope with the loss of property-tax revenue from federal forest land. The U.S. Forest Service says the system reaches more than 700 counties and Puerto Rico, and it traces back to the 1908 payment framework that was later stabilized by the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self Determination Act of 2000.

The dollars are split into three parts, and each one changes a different corner of county government. Title I money goes to roads and schools. Title II pays for projects on federal lands. Title III covers county projects, including Firewise Communities work, search and rescue, emergency-services training and equipment, community wildfire protection plans and broadband telecommunications services. Union County posted a Title III application notice for Public Law 119-58 and set an April 27 deadline for project proposals at the commissioners office in La Grande.

The Forest Service sent payment-election forms to state treasurers on June 3, and counties must submit payment elections by Aug. 1 and title-allocation elections by Sept. 30. Once the money is in motion, projects must be started by Sept. 30, 2028, and the funds must be obligated by Sept. 30, 2029.

Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley announced April 15 that nearly $48.7 million in Forest Service Secure Rural Schools money would go to Oregon counties for fiscal year 2025, along with additional Bureau of Land Management payments for the 18 Oregon and California counties. Wyden said the law he co-authored in 2000 has delivered nearly $4 billion to Oregon counties since then.