Jackson County commissioners passed a $640.5 million budget for the upcoming fiscal year, with $264.6 million going to reserves — a financial position that puts the county ahead of most others in Oregon.
The county is the only one in Southern Oregon not facing a shortfall. At least 21 of the state’s 36 counties are expecting deficits this fiscal year, according to a recent report by Oregon Public Broadcasting.
County Administrator Danny Jordan said it has been a long road to financial health. He started working for the government nearly 20 years ago, around the time environmental regulations drastically reduced logging and federal payouts to the county.
“I was forced to make some drastic steps,” Jordan said. “One of those steps was to close all 15 of our libraries.”
Jordan said the county had to get creative so as not to deeply cut prioritized services, such as public safety. The libraries eventually reopened under the management of a separate taxing district. Jordan said he also helped create an employee clinic for healthcare to reduce insurance costs. And he set up side accounts with the Oregon Public Employees Retirement System, which reduced rates and saved the county tens of millions of dollars over the span of decades.
Jackson County has a relatively low property tax rate of $2.10 per $1,000 of assessed value, and state law makes it difficult to raise those rates. Rogue Valley voters have historically been averse to new taxes. As a result, Jordan said the county relies on its reserve funds to pay for capital projects.
“We have enough money in reserve where we could operate the entire county for a year. No other county does that,” Jordan said. “We've had to depend on it for capital projects. Because our local taxpayers aren't really excited about passing new taxes very often.”
This year, the county will spend reserve funds for a $40 million expansion of Rogue Valley International-Medford Airport and a $15 million animal shelter.
Despite the good footing, the county still has around 75 fewer positions than during its heyday before the decline of timber, according to Jordan.
He’s skeptical about offering budget advice to other counties.
“What I say about counties is, ‘If you've seen one county, you've seen one county.’’
