Board approves Intergovernmental Agreement for funding of courthouse replacement project

September 4, 2014

Central County Courthouse

On Thursday, Sept. 4, at its weekly meeting, the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved an interim Intergovernmental Agreement to help fund the replacement of county’s central courthouse.

The approved Intergovernmental Agreement is between the county and the Oregon Department of Administrative Services (DAS), acting on behalf of Oregon Judicial Department.

The county and the state are 50-50 funding partners for the construction of the project and the purpose of the agreement, as described by assistant county attorney Ken Elliott, is to “fill the gap” between how much the county has spent on the courthouse replacement project so far and the time when the State of Oregon will begin selling bonds to match the county’s spending.     

Elliott went on to explain to the board that before the approval of Thursday’s agreement, the Oregon Court House Capital Construction & Improvement Fund only talked about the state matching the share of costs on completed courthouses owned or operated by the state.

“What we discovered with Oregon DAS and the Judicial Department, is that the county is out ahead of the state at this point,” Elliott said at the board meeting. “We have begun spending county funds under the intent that the program would be matched by state funds.”

The interim Intergovernmental Agreement with Oregon DAS for the funding the Central Courthouse Project will remain in place until the state begins selling bonds, which is expected to happen in April 2015.

For regular updates on the central courthouse project, visit multco.us/central-courthouse-project.