By Alex Paul
Linn County Communications
At their April 14 meeting, Linn County Commissioners Roger Nyquist, Sherrie Sprenger and Will Tucker unanimously approved increasing the First-Time Youth Wage Program stipend from $3 per hour to $4 per hour for this coming summer.
This will be the 20th year for the popular program that is supported by a portion of the county’s share of Oregon’s video lottery funds.
Administrative Assistant Amanda Giles noted in a written report that Linn County’s minimum wage is now $15.05 per hour. She reported that in the last 10 years the program has supported 168 unique businesses and there have been 786 youth participants.
In 2025, employees who were 14 to 19 years of age, worked a total of 47,000 hours and the program paid out $28,145 in stipends.
Treasurer Michele Hawkins told the commissioners the county has sufficient lottery funds set aside to support the $1 per hour stipend increase. In the past 10 years, 2018 saw the highest total payout of $56,434 and in 2016, the payout was $56,264.
Qualifying businesses must employ 35 or fewer employees and the young people must be first-time employees who have not previously worked for the individual business. An employer can only hire three qualifying young people at any given time. Maximum reimbursement per employer is $6,000, with a maximum of $2,000 per newly hired young person.
To qualify, businesses must hire eligible employees between May 1 and Sept. 30. The employee must be legal to work in the United States and a resident of Linn County. Youth ages 14 through 17 must be hired with a Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) permit. The employer must certify they are following all federal and state youth labor laws state BOLI rules and regulations).
For more information, contact Amanda Giles at the Linn County Board of Commissioners office at (541) 967-3825, or visit www.linncountyor.gov/businessdevelopment/page/youth-wage-grant.
In other business the commissioners:
- Held a public hearing concerning an application for an Outdoor Assembly Permit to conduct a five-day outdoor pirate festival called Port Nassau on a small farm on Allen Lane southwest of Albany. Property owner Brooke Knutzen outlined several changes planned for the proposed event including limiting the number of tickets to 1,000, providing tickets that control the flow of participants by hour of entry, no alcohol sales on-site and including an emergency egress roadway on property owned by a neighbor. Opponents cited safety concerns due to the narrow width of Allen Lane, possible trespassing by participants and the potential for fires that could escape the site and damage other properties. The commissioners agreed to accept new written testimony only until 5 p.m. on April 21 and to reconvene the public hearing for a possible decision at 10 a.m. on April 28.
- Were told the Planning and Building Department issued 257 total building permits in March, compared to 292 a year ago. There were 18 permits for dwellings; three for single family dwellings; one for manufactured dwellings. Eleven permits were issued for dwelling alterations and three permits for accessory buildings. Code enforcement staff opened six new cases and closed 12 cases.
- Accepted the annual Emergency Management Performance Grant for the Linn County Sheriff’s Office. The grant funds about 50% of the LCSO Emergency Management staffing costs.
- Gave Roadmaster Amy Ramsdell the authority to extend a contract to purchase fuel from Carson for the Road Department.
- Announced that the Budget Hearings for the 2026-2027 Fiscal Year will begin at 9:30 a.m. Monday, April 27, at the Linn County Fair and Expo Center. 3700 Knox Butte Road East, Albany.
- Approved several items for the Health Department, including extending an Intergovernmental Agreement with Portland State University for Alcohol and Drug outreach from September 29, 2025 to September 29, 2026.
- Extended an agreement with Marion County from June 30, 2026 to June 30, 2027, not to exceed $91,468 to provide occupational therapy services.
- Approved a Services Contract with Ejido Oso to provide food sourcing for the Food for Health program, not to exceed $78,000. This is a pass-through funding from the InterCommunity Health Network CCO.
- Approved an Intergovernmental Agreement with the Multnomah Education Services District to provide and maintain a web-based survey to allow county employees to record and document time associated with Medicaid administrative claiming activities. Not to exceed $71,746.
- Approved software licensing agreements with Qualifacts Systems for software to manage the Alcohol and Drug Program’s electronic medical records not to exceed $50,094. A separate agreement not to exceed $159,832 was approved to provide the same service for the Mental Health Department.