NEWBERG, Ore. — The City of Newberg has paid off a $3.2 million bond tied to the construction of a communications tower at the Newberg-Dundee Police Department two years ahead of schedule, eliminating a fee that has appeared on utility billing statements for more than a decade and avoiding an estimated $300,000 in interest payments.
Finance Director Kady Strode signed off on the early payoff in May, according to the city. The bond, issued in 2018 to fund a public safety communications upgrade, had been set to retire naturally in the spring of 2028.
Residents will see the “Communications Officer fee” — a roughly $2.75 monthly charge that first appeared on billing statements in 2014 — removed beginning July 1, 2026. The fee was originally established to fund two full-time dispatch positions.
With the bond now retired, City Manager Will Worthey said those two positions will be absorbed into the General Fund.
“In the short term this will have a negative impact on general fund ending balances,” Worthey said, adding that the city expects the impact to be offset by future property tax increases at the county level and ongoing revenue from School Resource Officer payments and the red-light camera program at Highway 99W and Villa Road.
“The camera revenue is a byproduct of the safety it generates,” he said. “The revenue is not an end in itself.”
The payoff was assembled from several sources. The city had built a dedicated sinking fund over three years, starting from a balance of $15,000. School Resource Officer reimbursements from Newberg-Dundee Public Schools contributed $265,000 in fiscal year 2023-24 and $200,000 in fiscal year 2025-26.
Proceeds from the January sale of the Butler Property — a vacant downtown lot sold to Dundee residents Brent and Polly Peterson for development — contributed $338,986. Citation revenue from the red-light camera program, which relaunched in January 2026 added $54,815. The remaining $197,369 came from the General Fund.
This is the second time Newberg has retired a debt early. In November 2025, the city made its final payment on a 2015 bond that had consolidated older debts, retiring it roughly two months ahead of schedule.
Worthey said the city now carries only two remaining debt obligations and expressed interest in accelerating repayment on both. The smaller of the two — a Business Oregon loan used to upgrade the city’s wastewater system, originally totaling $8.2 million — has a balance of approximately $1.74 million and is set to mature in December 2028. Worthey said he would like to see it retired in 2027, if the Newberg City Council agrees.
“After this, there will be only one debt left,” Worthey said, referring to a roughly $14 million obligation tied to wastewater rates. “Can it be retired before the city manager has to retire? Let’s find out.”
