Nearly 80% of Grants Pass voters approving police and fire levy

GRANTS PASS, Ore.– Almost 80% of voters in Grants Pass are backing the renewal of a police and fire levy.

For the past thirteen years, Grants Pass Police and Fire Departments operated off a $1.79 levy.

But that won’t be enough, because Grants Pass city officials said it has a $16.5 million dollar deficit.

While the passage of this levy will help, it only raises about half that amount, around $8 million per year.

Now the city is looking at adding other fees to help supplement public safety and put a larger dent in the deficit.

Grants Pass Mayor Sara Bristol said, “it’s worth about 21% of our total public safety budget so it’s an important piece of the funding puzzle but it doesn’t completely fund our public safety. In this case we are looking to increase revenue by about $7 to 8 million.”

Bristol said they will discuss what the other fees could be, like water fees or small sales taxes, on Monday.

She said they will be looking to make cuts to public safety, if they are not able to increase revenue.