In Curry County, a public safety tax levy was put to a vote and for the third time in recent years, it did not pass.
Curry County Commissioner David Brock Smith said the situation is dire, calling it a public safety crisis. He said only four deputies are on staff and at any given time, only one deputy is on patrol covering 1,536 square miles of Curry County.
“It’s a region that could possibly fall into lawlessness,” said Commissioner Smith who is the Chair of the Curry County Board of Commissioners.
The five-year tax levy would have funded the jail, the Sheriff’s Office, Juvenile office, Marine Patrol, and 911 communications. It would have also allowed 12 deputies to be hired. The commissioner said the levy was going to be a lifeline for the community.
“We’ve never been this close. 44% in favor, 56% against. If we would have received 350 more yes votes we would have passed.”
However, it didn’t pass and Commissioner Smith said it’s partially because of Brookings city leadership.
“The only real opposition was the leadership of the city of Brookings and only time will tell on why that was.”
The levy would have required those living in unincorporated areas to pay $1.97 per $1000 of assessed property value. To give a general idea, that’s roughly $300 every year for a $150,000 home. City residents would pay $1.84 per $1000 of property value. That equates to about $275.
However, the Mayor of Brookings, Ron Hedenskog, said the levy was unfair for city residents who already pay property taxes for their own dedicated police force. We’re told Brookings residents shell out $3.48 per $1000, which for a home assessed at $150,000, comes out to about $500 every year. The tax levy would have tacked on about $275 more.
In comparison, county residents pay 59-cents per $1000 of property value. That’s the lowest in Oregon state.
Mayor Hedenskog said the difference between what rural residents would pay ($1.97 per $1000) versus what city residents would pay ($1.84 per $1000) should be greater than 13-cents. He said Brookings residents would have voted for a more fair solution.
Meanwhile, Commissioner Smith said now comes the hard part.
“We are literally cut to the bone in our departments so now we have to look at which departments do we keep and which departments do we not,” he said.
According to the commissioner, the county has been operating at minimum staffing levels. If they cut positions in some departments, it will mean losing much-needed grant funding as well.
There’s also a chance that the jail could close, and the county would be forced to rent bed space from a neighboring county.
Commissioner Smith said he’s keeping a close watch on Oregon House Bill 3453, which if passed, would allow the state to take control of public safety in counties that need help and impose an income tax on residents to pay for services.
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