Commissioners look at construction fees to fund sheriff
From our weekly issue dated December 12, 2007
A revenue-raising proposal was brought to the Josephine County Board of Commissioners Monday morning, Dec. 10 during a regularly scheduled business meeting at the county courthouse.
The proposal was brought by the Sheriff’s Advisory Council Chairman Dick Smith and Vice Chairman Roy Lindsey plus Sheriff Gil Gilbertson.
The idea comprises what is termed a “buy-in” fee, the premise being that new construction is benefiting from improvements in infrastructure not funded by the new construction. A fee would be assessed prior to a permit being issued based on current infrastructure costs as adjusted for inflation.
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The city of Grants Pass already has a similar fee in place for new construction amounting to $13,000 per new dwelling said Smith.
Using the current value of county assets adjusted for inflation, and dividing that total by the 42,777 dwellings currently established in the county, a very preliminary figure of $18,000 per new dwelling was cited. It was emphasized that the amount was definitely not set in stone and that adjustments would be expected.
It was noted that given an estimated average of 200 new dwellings being built in the county per year, a $10,000 fee per dwelling would raise $2 million annually for the general fund. Lindsay stated that this is a way that new construction could “participate in the cost of established improvements.”
Lindsey emphasized that the fee would pertain only to new dwellings, not replacement dwelling or improvements on existing structures. He also said that although they were working with numbers of homes, the plan could be modified to include commercial construction. He also noted that the fee would shift some of the revenue burden from property owners.
Although this proposal would not make up for the loss of “safety net” funds in and of itself, it was noted that it would start the county toward more diverse funding rather than relying on a single source of revenue.
Said Lindsey, “Any new fee will have its opponents, but at some point something must be done.” Gilbertson added that, “The least we can do is propose new ideas and concepts. All this is, is an idea, a proposal.”
Commission Chairman Jim Raffenburg said after the meeting that the idea is “very problematic to me.” He further stated that “all that we’re looking at presumes government is where it should be.” Raffenburg said that he believes future timber money is a more appropriate and equitable source of revenue.
The county has an option of “taxes or timber,” he said.
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