Forest Grove: $29.5 Million Police Station Bond Returns to Ballot After 2025 Defeat

Forest Grove voters are being asked for a second time to approve up to $29.5 million in bonds for a new police station. Measure 34-353 is on the Nov. 3 ballot, and Washington County Elections mailed ballots to registered voters on Oct. 14.

The money would pay for a new building on city-owned land at 19th and Birch, replacing a station built in 1977. A $29.5 million measure for the same project failed in May 2025. This time, the city’s estimated cost for the average assessed home is $193 a year, compared with $263 in the 2025 estimate.

The measure filing, dated July 22, includes an explanatory statement submitted by the Forest Grove City Council. It describes the current building this way:

“Since then, the Police Department has grown from 12 to 42 personnel while the 12,120-square-foot facility has remained the same size.”

According to the ballot summary, the bonds would pay for added evidence space, a safe place to interview victims, separation of adult and juvenile offenders, better accessibility, seismic and building code upgrades, and secure parking for police vehicles. The bonds could be sold in more than one series, each maturing in “21 years or less” from issuance.

From 1977 to the 2026 ballot

The filing traces the project to studies the city ran years before the first vote. Together with the city’s Police Facility Bond page and county records, it gives this sequence:

• 1977: The current station is built. The city’s bond page says it was built to house 12 officers.
• 2016: A Police Facility Needs Assessment identifies 34 significant deficiencies, including evidence space, victim interview space, adult and juvenile separation, accessibility, and building and seismic codes.
• 2018: An Alternatives Analysis finds remodeling or expanding “impractical and more expensive” than building new. The city bought the lot at 19th and Birch that year, according to its bond page.
• May 20, 2025: Measure 34-343 fails, 2,232 votes no (52.27%) to 2,038 yes (47.73%), in the county’s certified results.
• Nov. 3, 2026: Voters decide Measure 34-353.

By our calculation, the 2025 measure lost by 194 votes. Turnout in that contest was 26.29%, the certified count shows.

Same price tag, lower yearly estimate

Both measures ask for the same amount of borrowing for the same 21,500-square-foot design. What changed between the two filings is the estimate of what property owners would pay. The figures below come from the May 2025 voters’ pamphlet and the 2026 filing.

By our calculation, the 2026 yearly estimate is $70 lower, or about 27% less. The 2026 filing does not explain why the estimate fell. Both filings say actual rates may differ, depending on interest rates when the bonds are sold and on changes in assessed value, which is the taxable value on a property tax bill and is usually lower than market value.

“About 45% larger”

The building’s size raises a separate question. The explanatory statement says Mackenzie Architecture’s design was “value-engineered from approximately 25,000 to 21,500 square feet to reduce costs and is about 45% larger than the current facility.” The same statement puts the current building at 12,120 square feet.

Those two square-footage figures point to a bigger gap. Our calculation: 21,500 ÷ 12,120 = 1.77, so the design would be about 77% larger than today’s station, or 9,380 square feet more. The city’s bond page uses the same “45% larger” wording, and so did the 2025 explanatory statement. None of these documents explain how the 45% figure was calculated.

The documents also differ on staffing. The filing says 42 personnel, while the city’s bond page lists “36 sworn officers and 6 non-sworn staff” in one section and “40 sworn officers and 6 non-sworn staff members” in another.

No arguments in the pamphlet

The county’s Nov. 3 voters’ pamphlet carries no arguments on either side. Page WC-56 prints the ballot title and explanatory statement, followed by the line “No Arguments in Favor or Opposition of this measure were filed.” The county’s deadline for measure arguments was Sept. 8. In May 2025, the pamphlet carried one argument in favor of Measure 34-343, furnished by Mayor Malynda Wenzl, and none in opposition.

The city’s bond page says that if the measure fails, the police department “will continue to operate out of the existing police facility.” If it passes, the page says the old building’s future would be decided through community input, and it names selling the land as one consideration.

Drop boxes, results and an Oct. 27 open house

The county’s deadline to register for this election was Oct. 13. Voted ballots can go in any official Washington County drop box until 8 p.m. on Election Day, with no postage needed, the pamphlet says. In Forest Grove, the pamphlet lists a drop box at the Forest Grove City Library, at Pacific Avenue and Birch Street. Voters can track their ballot at washcovotes.ballottrax.net or call county elections at 503-846-5800.

The county plans to post unofficial results after 8 p.m. on Nov. 3 and certify them Nov. 30. Before then, the city’s bond page lists a Community Open House on Tuesday, Oct. 27, at the Community Auditorium, 1915 Main St. The city’s Open House page gives the time as 6 to 8 p.m. and lists the Police Department among the city staff who will be there.

Top image: File photo, 2016: the Forest Grove City Library at Pacific Avenue and Birch Street, where the county lists Forest Grove’s ballot drop box. Photo: Kingofthedead, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped, license plate blurred).