Info meet Sept. 2 in CJ on taxing districts
Measures to fund sheriff’s office patrol, jail, court security set for Nov. 4 ballot
From our weekly issue dated August 27, 2008
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A political action committee (PAC) calling itself Citizens for Public Safety Education (CPSE) is hosting an event to provide information on proposed public safety tax districts for Josephine County.
The districts, designed to provide stable funding for county law enforcement, are set for the Nov. 4 ballot. Anyone can attend the educational gathering at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 2, at the Josephine County Bldg. in Downtown Cave Junction.
Unless successful at passing the two taxing districts, Josephine County Sheriff’s Office (JCSO) is facing an estimated budget of only $2.1 million next fiscal year. Its current budget is approximately $10 million.
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This essentially curtails patrol functions and juvenile justice services; practically closes the jail; and eliminates the JCSO’s ability to generate self-sustaining revenue.
Responding to confusion about the taxing districts and what passage could mean for county residents, Jeff Wolf, chairman of the CPSE, said that the PAC, through town hall meetings and an informational Website, “is trying to get the information out about the tax districts so people can make an informed choice.”
Added Brian Bailey, “The thing the taxpayers really need to understand is that for most people it will cost less than a buck a day to maintain these services.” Bailey, who has served as chairman of the county Budget Committee, speaks from a working knowledge of the county’s fiscal situation.
“In the long term,” he said, “(voting for the tax districts) is more cost-efficient for the taxpayers because they will not be paying all the shut-down costs of mothballing buildings and programs.”
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Joe McMannis, another PAC member who also serves on the Sheriff’s Advisory Council, said that he regularly engages people to discuss details of the tax district proposal.
“I had a conversation at the barbershop the other day,” McMannis said, “and got everyone engaged – fully engaged – when I asked someone, ‘How are you going to vote on this?’ and he said he was going to vote against it,”
“I said, ‘If you want no law enforcement in the county, then we have nothing more to talk about. But if you do and you could get it for less than a dollar a day, would you be interested?’ I show them this document. We do the math. They get it.”
The document, a sample tax bill, shows that, among the many entities for which property taxes are collected, only the relatively small portion allocated to the county is affected by the tax districts.
“The real issue,” said Curt Bynum, another advisory council member pulling double duty with the PAC, “is that 98 percent of the people, when they sit down and look at the numbers, irrespective of their ideology, they go: ‘Oh my God,’”
Bynum pointed out, “Of all the counties (as listed in the Governor’s Taskforce on Forest Payments report), Josephine County is losing 67 percent, by far the most of any of the affected counties, of its general fund.
“Then you look at the tax rate, and Josephine County is by far the lowest. You juxtapose those and it’s like: ‘Duh. We’re broke.’ Subjectivity flies out the window.”
More information, a sample tax bill and a video presentation on the county budget numbers can be found online at JOCOToday.com.
