This is one of many tools developed to ensure the City maintains a healthy financial position as it enters the 21st century. The city has minimal outstanding debt. The tax levied for debt service on outstanding bonds again was one of the lowest among the metropolitan cities. The Engineering Department maintains and provides a record of public infrastructure for streets, water, sanitary sewer and storm sewer. The Department performs professional design, plan review, construction management, surveying and inspection.
Engineering also issues construction contracts and permits for public improvements.
The City's excellent water quality exceeds all the stringent Environmental Protection Agency and Oregon State Health Division requirements for drinking water. Responsibility of the Water Department is to provide a self-sustaining, safe, high quality municipal and industrial water supply. The Commission operates and maintains a watershed in the coastal region, water filtration plants, water transmission lines, finished water reservoirs, water distribution system, and customer service department. Hillsboro is continually building and improving this system with plans for additional reservoirs, treatment capacity and finished water lines to accommodate the city's growth. The libraries' collections include over 208,000 books, CD ROM products, audio cassettes, video cassettes, compact disks, magazines and newspapers.