• Garbage rates increasing
• Cornell Road Recovery Transitional Housing update
• WCSO update on e-bikes
• Will we all end up in cities?
• Summer paving
• LUT Open House information and schedule
• 40 years of MSTIP

Garbage rates increasing

Rate increases were approved by the Board of Commissioners at their June 23 meeting and will take effect on August 1, 2026. Collection rates are uniform across rural and urban unincorporated areas, regardless of which collection company provides the service.

The reason for the increase is that rates should provide haulers with adequate revenue to cover allowable costs for providing service, plus a reasonable Return on Revenue (ROR). The current target for ROR is 10%. From an analysis of 2025 data, staff found that the overall ROR was only 6.38%. The county Garbage & Recycling Advisory Committee (GRAC) members were concerned about the system’s long-term sustainability. The full report to the board can be viewed here.

Rate increases will be:

• 3.5% for urban residential (can/cart) collection;
• 5.6% for rural residential (can/cart) collection;
• 5.2% for commercial (container) collection;
• 24.9% for medical waste collection;
• 4.5% for drop box, compactor, and occasional (on-demand) container collection services.

Learn more about Washington County’s Solid Waste & Recycling program here.

Cornell Road Recovery Transitional Housing update

An Open House-style meeting was held on June 17 to continue work on the Good Neighbor Agreement (GNA) that will be finalized before the facility opens this fall. Representatives from partner agencies provided information and displayed posters representing various aspects of the draft GNA. A current version of the draft is available on the program page here. You can add your opinion through a survey that is available here through July 10. The posters, which have community questions and agency responses, are available as a PDF download here.

One interesting thing we heard at the Open House is that the policy regarding participation qualification is still under development, but everyone who will be referred to the site will already be active in recovery and opting in to a sober recovery-oriented environment. For additional questions or to be added to the interested parties list, please contact Homeless_Services@WashingtonCountyOR.gov

WCSO update on e-bikes

Washington County Sheriff’s Office has published a poster about e-bike safety. It’s too big to include here, so we have uploaded the PDF (English and Spanish) to our server and you can see it and print it by clicking here. English | Spanish

Will we all end up in cities?

Urban Services Framework may determine the future of the UUA.

Most of us in Cedar Mill, Cedar Hils, and Bethany live in the Urban Unincorporated Areas  of Washington County. Necessary services are provided by Service Districts such as Clean Water Services for sewer and stormwater, Beaverton School District, and Enhanced Sheriff’s Patrol District (ESPD). In 2007-2008 Cedar Mill News published a series of articles explaining how so much of the county’s population ended up outside of cities: read Urban Services, Rural Government to learn more.

Washington County’s Urban Services Framework (USF) was first established in 1973. It has been amended a number of times since then, as required by state law. Now Washington County and the cities of Beaverton and Tigard have been working to update the Urban Services Framework Project again.

Many believe that the ultimate goal of the effort is to move all UUAs into cities. This would result in discontinuing several agencies including the ESPD, and shrinking the jurisdiction and revenue of many others, as cities step in to provide those services.

The Board of County Commissioners (BCC) had scheduled a hearing on the update for the June 23 meeting but due to an already full agenda, it was postponed to the August 4 meeting. Agenda and supporting materials for the hearing are supposed to be posted a week in advance. The meeting will be in person at the County Building and virtual. If you’re interested in attending, check back here.

Summer paving

Washington County completes annual paving work each summer to keep neighborhood streets safe, smooth, and in good condition. This page lists scheduled dates for overlay paving and slurry seal projects. Schedules may change because of weather, staffing, or material availability. Please check this page regularly for updates.

The page lists projects by type. If you want to see if your street is on the schedule, you will need to do a “find” on the page (not a search)—expand all the types and then type “command-F” and enter the street name in the box. You’ll have to expand all the types to find your street if it’s on the schedule.

To find out about bigger road projects, visit Transportation Improvement Projects.

LUT Open House information and schedule

Washington County Land Use and Transportation (LUT) has developed a system to present information and get feedback through Online Open Houses. This page has information on currently open and recent sessions and links so you can participate or learn more.

The current sessions are:

Aloha Safe Access to Transit, open until July 12; Walker Road Phase 3 Construction Kickoff, open until July 19; and Active Transportation Plan, open until July 30.

Past sessions no longer allow comments but have good information on LUT projects.

40 years of MSTIP

Washington County Land Use and Transportation (LUT) is celebrating the 40^th anniversary of the program that funds transportation improvements in cities and unincorporated areas throughout the county.

Part of the money for Major Streets Transportation Improvement Program (MSTIP) comes from the property taxes that contribute to the General Fund, part from the Transportation Development Tax (TDT) and the System Development Charges that developers pay for the increase in road use that results from development, plus some from grants and Oregon Gain Share. Learn more about transportation funding here.

As part of the celebration, you are invited to play MSTIP40 Bingo! Take the ultimate 80s-style road quest! Explore MSTIP project sites, fill your MSTIP BINGO card, score awesome retro swag, and enter to win one of four grand prizes. Get the card for your Commissioner District (most of our area is District 2) and play along from July 11-September 12.