Jacksonville plans increased surcharge to improve police presence

JACKSONVILLE, Ore. -The Jacksonville City Council is considering increasing the police presence in the small city.

But residents will have to pay for it through an increased public safety surcharge.

Jacksonville City Councilors talon reed decided to make his first run for city council last year…. After an overnight break-in at his law firm.

“I don’t want what happened to me and our business to happen to anybody else in the community,” Reed said.

Because Jacksonville doesn’t have police staffing overnight, it took a Jackson County Sheriff’s deputy 30 minutes to respond.

The crime’s never been solved.

“We’re in it together,” Reed said. “We want to make sure we represent the people of our community the right way and that we also keep the town safe.”

Other city councilors say it’s the city’s low property taxes that put it at a disadvantage when it comes to public safety.

“Jacksonville has the second lowest property tax in the county,” said councilwoman Andrea Thompson.

Thompson says one way to fix this would be to increase the public safety surcharge.

“It was kind of estimated by our city administrator and our fiscal manager that probably what we would need to do is increase it around $15,” Thompson said.

While this increase is supported by the entire council they appear to have different ideas on how to get there.

Some councilors want to gradually increase the surcharge. Others want it all at once.

Reed says they ultimately want to do what would be best for the community.

“We don’t wanna keep going back to the taxpayers here in our city and not having a good result,” Reed said. “So we’re trying to make sure that when we make a move, the result is the best bang for the buck.”

The exact surcharge increase amount is expected to be determined at the city council meeting on July 18th.

City councilors say some form of relief will be available for residents who can’t afford to pay the additional amount.

You can find out more about the relief by calling the city, or its police, or fire department.