Letter: Options for funding law enforcement

Published 6:15 am Thursday, July 13, 2023

To the Editor:

We are living in a difficult time for public agencies. Revenue is flat or declining. Costs are going up. Too many public officials don’t have the background in public finance needed to solve the issue.

This is why I have mixed feelings about the Grant County Court’s solution for public safety. The only solution they’re offering is to increase taxes.

I agree with the court’s decision to put law enforcement funding to a vote of the people. We live in a democratic society, and voting is an inherent responsibility we all share.

But I disagree that this levy is the only solution. Two years ago, John Day’s city council offered to set up a fund exchange to transfer their general fund revenues to the county in exchange for an equivalent amount of road funds for John Day’s street projects.

Had the county court taken John Day’s offer, they would have gotten over $650,000 in revenue for the sheriff’s office over the last two years. Almost as much as their proposed tax levy. This approach could work for any of our cities.

The reason is that some money is restricted for specific purposes, but because of their origin, other funds can be spent more freely. But any government can perform services for any other government in Oregon, and fund exchanges like this have been around for decades to give us more flexibility in how we spend public money. One example is ODOT’s fund exchange program, which has made these trades for 40 years.

The levy is just a Band-Aid. It’s time to invest our money in our future and build amenities that permanently bring people and jobs here. Put the road fund to work building new streets for new housing and turn restricted funds into revenue for law enforcement.

The county court should create a citizen advisory committee to discuss this and other solutions before they raise our taxes. They have $57 million in road funds that they’ve been saving for a rainy day. When you have that much money but still have to tax residents to balance your budget, it’s raining!

Nick Green

John Day