The sheriff’s office said the money will help them retain their current staff and services.
Josephine County is receiving money from the ‘American Rescue Plan Act’ to fund the sheriff’s office through 2024.
But the sheriff’s office hopes this levy will bring long term stability to the department that’s struggled for funding much of the last decade.
The election won’t be certified for weeks, but if the situation holds and it passes, the levy would cost tax payers outside of grants pass $0.99 in property taxes per $1,000 of assessed value.
For a $155,000 home, that’s over $150 a year.
Josephine County Sheriff Dave Daniel has been working to get this type of permanent funding for his department since 2021.
“This is not an overnight issue,” Sheriff Daniel said, “when you hire and train new employees, in the form of deputies, it can take upwards of a year. So I’m just going to ask that our citizens are patient.”
In 2017, a levy that funded secure staffing and the jail for the next four years was passed.
Before that, from 2012 to 2016, five tax levies were proposed and all of them rejected by the voters.
Sheriff Daniel said his goal is to get back to 24-7 service in the county.
He said he’ll be meeting with his staff next week, to see where they can find other funding sources to achieve that goal.
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