Ashland voters will decide in November whether the City Council should need their approval before imposing most new or increased fees on utility bills.
Measure 15-243 would amend the city charter to require voter approval for utility bill fees and taxes unrelated to providing water, electricity or other utility services. Increases that do not exceed inflation would be exempt, along with state and federal charges, franchise fees and increases required to meet state minimums.
The debate pits greater voter control against the City Council’s ability to respond quickly to financial needs.
Why supporters want voter approval
Ashland resident George Kramer led the petition campaign that prompted the measure. He said the effort grew out of the council’s decision last year to increase fees for public safety and wildfire prevention and create a new fee for parks.
"You can't keep creating fees like this with four votes," he said. "It's incredibly regressive, meaning that if you live in a 500-square-foot apartment, you pay the same fees as somebody who lives in a 5,000-square-foot house."
Those changes added a combined $12.50 a month to residential utility bills. The new parks fee was intended to help close a budget shortfall, but the Parks and Recreation Department still reduced some services.
The council later approved pay increases for city employees, including managers and other employees not represented by unions.
Council Member Dylan Bloom said the fee increases and subsequent employee raises hurt the city’s credibility and contributed to “a sense of a lack of transparency.”
Kramer collected signatures for the measure over the past year. But procedural errors invalidated enough signatures to prevent the initiative from qualifying for the ballot.
The City Council voted 4-2 in August to refer a revised version to voters. The council’s version exempts increases tied to inflation.
Kramer said he pursued the measure because he believes the city has not looked closely enough at other ways to reduce spending.
"I sometimes think that the residents are seen only as a source of revenue," Kramer said. "I don't think that's sustainable."
He also rejected the argument that voters would routinely oppose requests for more money.
Kramer pointed to Ashland voters’ 2024 approval of up to $75 million in federal financing for a new water treatment plant.
"I don't see why that changes," he said.
Council member warns of budget delays
Bloom said the timing of Oregon elections could make it harder for the city to plan its budget. The city might have to wait months after adopting a budget to learn whether voters had approved a proposed fee.
"It makes it really difficult when you have to be responsive, and you have to consider potential increases to fees or new fees to address certain particular issues that maybe the community really is interested in paying," Bloom said.
He said the measure could also require another election if the city needed to correct a technical problem with a fee.
Kramer said city officials could account for election schedules during their financial planning. Ashland adopts budgets covering two years, and a fee proposal could go before voters during a May primary before the council adopts its next budget.
“If they can’t plan forward two years, then they shouldn’t be in office," Kramer said.
Bloom agreed that the city needs better long-term planning. He said the council has not yet thoroughly examined where it could reduce spending without substantially cutting services.
Ashland considers another approach
Bloom has supported a separate council effort to require more public notice before fees are created or increased. The proposed process would require at least a month’s notice, giving residents more time to review the proposal and comment.
The city is testing that approach as the council considers whether to extend the $5.15 monthly parks fee, which is scheduled to expire in June 2027.
Bloom said the Parks and Recreation Department should demonstrate why it needs the money before the council makes the fee permanent.
He said he could not fulfill his responsibility as a council member by approving the money unless the department demonstrated that it needed the fee.
The council is also considering ways to make the parks fee less burdensome for lower-income residents. Options discussed include charging residential and commercial customers differently, basing residential charges on a home’s size or offering waivers to qualifying households.
Jackson County plans to mail ballots beginning Oct. 14. Ballots must be returned to an official drop box by 8 p.m. on Election Day or postmarked by Nov. 3 and received by Nov. 10.
