Recommendations near for public safety funding
From our weekly issue dated April 9, 2008
Studied suggestions to pay for the Josephine County justice system, including a possible long-range taxing district, were to be compiled Wednesday, April 9 by the Task Force on Long-Term Funding for Public Safety.
The volunteer group of citizens has met weekly during the past month to devise recommendations for the board of county commissioners on how revenues can be generated to replace O&C funds that have been used in the past to finance public safety operations. They comprise the Josephine County Sheriff’s Office, the Juvenile Justice Dept., and District Attorney’s Office.
The task force will compile its report during its final public meeting April 9 in Anne G. Basker Auditorium next to the county courthouse in Grants Pass beginning at 1:30 p.m.
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Throughout the past month of meetings, the task force has emphasized identifying funding sources that do not rely exclusively on property owners. An equitable distribution of responsibility for funding public safety has been emphasized.
The group is charged with finding a way to generate approximately $15 million annually to replace the federal timber funds that were once received for public safety operations. From the beginning, the group pursued a funding philosophy of getting a little bit from one source and a little bit from another to add up to $15 million.
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Ideas for generating funds through county legislation included a motel bed tax, a sales tax, and an increased vehicle registration fee. Also discussed were a variety of other methods through state and federal legislation to generate funds such as a beer-and-wine tax, and obtaining a share of Oregon Lottery money.
There was also extensive debate about saving money through improving the efficiency of county operations.
The possibility of increasing timber harvesting also was talked about. But many members were concerned that timber harvesting would not return to the levels that would provide consistent and reliable funding that public safety operations could depend on year after year.
The task force strongly emphasized the need for finding stable funding sources.
The group included in its list of funding alternatives a recommendation for establishing a two-tiered taxing district. However, this was to be the last of the funding alternatives to be activated, and would be activated only if necessary. The general idea involves using the other alternatives to generate the primary source of funding, with a taxing district filling in the remaining funds on an as-needed basis.
The group emphasized that it is paramount that the language in the taxing districts legislation be extremely clear that the property tax rate would be set at a level where the revenue from property taxes would be reduced each year by the amount of revenue collected from alternative methods. That would include the long-term possibility of timber receipts.
The task force expressed a disposition that its recommendations are only the first step in the county’s funding future. Members indicated that funding sources through state and federal avenues should be pursued to increase future revenue sources.
Members feel that will take time, but that the overall objective should be to find ways to reduce the pressure on property owners to shoulder the responsibilities of public safety.
