Early election results in Josephine County from Tuesday's special election show a majority of voters have approved a service district to fund law enforcement.
The new district would increase the property tax rate by 99 cents per $1,000 of assessed value. It is estimated to raise over $5.5 million in its first year, $5.8 million in its second year and $6 million in its third year. That money would be used to fund patrol and dispatch services for the sheriff’s department, including 20-25 deputies, 6.5 dispatchers and 1.5 evidence techs.
“I feel relieved,” Josephine County Sheriff Dave Daniel said in an interview Wednesday. “A ton of stress and concern is lifted off of my back and the backs of all of our deputies. So we're excited. We're looking forward to providing a better service. And now get the hard work going as far as building this organization back up.”
He said he’s not sure exactly when the department will be able to start utilizing these funds, but he said it will take time to hire and train new staff.
The service district would exclude Grants Pass and could only be changed by a vote of the people.
The Josephine County Sheriff’s Office has been searching for stability after years of being underfunded due to decreased funding from federal timber payments and low property taxes. The county’s property tax rate is one of the lowest in the state, and Oregon residents also do not pay sales tax.
Last November, Josephine County voters rejected a seasonal sales tax that would have funded the department. It's currently being supported by funding from the American Rescue Plan Act.
As of Wednesday morning, support for the law enforcement service district was leading by approximately 51% of voters.
“This is huge. It's epic for the County Sheriff's Office and for the citizens of Josephine County and those who visit. It puts us in a much, much better situation,” Daniel said.
In 2012, Josephine County residents voted down a $12 million levy, leading to sheriff’s deputies being laid off and jail inmates being released. A 2019 report about law enforcement in the county showed that after that vote failed, the number of concealed carry permits in the county doubled, and the drug crime rate increased to roughly three times the state’s rate.
This story has been updated to include a response from Sheriff Daniel.
