Grants Pass, Ore – Josephine County commissioners had their hands full with several proposals Wednesday.
One of them revisiting a controversial, and so far unsuccessful, public safety tax levy.
“It was very advantageous to put this out to the public and we’ll see how they vote,” said Commissioner Dan DeYoung.
Funding public safety is once again on the agenda and after a vote by Josephine County commissioners, it’s now on the May ballot.
“What use to be secure rural schools dollars, those are gone, they are not coming back this year, so we figured we need to do something we need to it fairly fast,” said Deyoung.
DeYoung says at 93-cents per $1,000 in assessed property value for 5 years, this property tax levy is the cheapest of recent proposed levies, all of which have failed.
“People have been educated time after time after time, this one here funds just the jail, and juvenile justice,” he said.
Also up to voters, proposed new tax districts to fund county libraries.
“It’s the formation of a district, so it’ll be a permanent tax rate of 39 cents and it’ll be voted on by the people in that district.”
As well as advisory questions on regulating commercial recreation marijuana grows.
“We’re just asking a question of the voter, what do you want us to do with this?”
Commissioners also approved an order making citizen complaints anonymous among other complaint policy changes.
What remains to be seen is if voters in the county will consider approving new taxes.
Since 2012, voters have rejected six law enforcement levies with the most recent one coming just 3 months ago.
© 2024 KOBI-TV NBC5. All rights reserved unless otherwise stated.