Grants Pass Now

Reprinted from grantspassnow.com

Dave Toler

Confidence in County government.

An annual survey of Grants Pass citizens (about 38% of county residents) gauges citizen confidence in local government. One question queries citizens about whether “they feel they are getting their money’s worth” from the various local agencies who serve them.

A tally of the positive responses (either “always” or “often”) are as follows:

What’s really unique is that both state government (25%) and federal government (22%) actually score rate higher than Josephine County.

While it is difficult to know for sure why Josephine County government scores so much lower than other local agencies, there is one important difference between Josephine County and all these other agencies.

Josephine County is the only one of these local agencies that does not have a professional manager overseeing the everyday business. Instead of a professional CEO, three elected lay people manage the $100 million business we call Josephine County.

A professional management structure will provide three major benefits:

EFFICIENCY:

It’s simple - one is better than three. You have three politicians micro managing every little decision. Each management decision becomes a political issue. Decisions take three times longer than necessary. And for all that dysfunction, you pay much more than you should! Imagine having a business run by three lay people with no qualifications required for the job. All decisions must be arrived at collectively.

Then in addition, imagine these managers being restricted by law from ever communicating with each other unless it is in public session with media allowed. It’s what we call Josephine County government!

COMPETENCY:

There are no qualifications required to be a County Commissioner. That’s no different than the Boards who govern all the other local governments. However, Josephine County is the only agency that also demands this elected official to be a CEO of the business. And even if the three commissioners had professional management qualification, why would you want three of them?

MEASURING PERFORMANCE and ACCOUNTABILITY

Whether it is a private corporation or government, the CEO is always accountable to the Board. Any leader who fails to perform can be replaced by the board in a heartbeat. That means in Josephine County, under the current three CEO structure we are literally accountable to ourselves! Who will evaluate our performance as CEOs? We will. Who will hire and fire us, we will! Without any real accountability, how can we assure Josephine County citizens that their county is being well managed?

SUMMARY

I believe that Josephine County citizens want to support local services like law enforcement, jails, criminal prosecution, libraries, and public health. The citizens of Grants Pass provide strong support for city services, yet those same citizens often vote down county levies. I believe the difference is confidence and trust. This plan will at last win the confidence of our citizens in county government.

With the potential loss of federal funding, the time has come for competent and efficient county government under the direction of strong and experienced management . It’s time we stop investing in politicians and start investing in our citizens!

As we look to the future in a community that has for most of its history relied on timber receipts and federal payments in lieu of timber receipts to fund basic services, we must make a major decision on how to replace $12,500,000 in our general fund. This figure amounts to about 67% of the total needed for basic services. This figure basically represents the entire budget of the Sheriff, the jail, the District Attorney’s office, and the juvenile detention facility. The only tax revenue that can generate that amount of money would be a sales tax or property tax. In 99% of the cities and counties across the country, the property tax is the system used. Sales taxes are sometimes added to state taxes in some of the larger jurisdictions where costs are ridiculously high. Services in Josephine county can be described as “lean” at best. Any further reductions in what is currently offered would be unwise and downright dangerous. Lets look closer at the options:

SALES TAX
ADVANTAGES

• Everybody pays including visitors.
• Payments, except for large items, are barely noticeable.
• It is controlled by the payer.
• All taxes must be voted on by the citizens.

DISADVANTAGES

• To obtain the needed income, and at the same time to exclude groceries and prescriptions, the rate would need to be 4%.
• Merchants would have to be paid a percentage to collect the tax.
• A new dept. at the county would have to be set up to handle the administration, collection, and enforcement of the tax.
• Big ticket customers would shop elsewhere, causing our local businesses to suffer economic losses. These are the same businesses that support our schools and local non-profit organizations very generously.
• Sales tax is not a deductible item on either the federal or state tax return.
• The amount paid by non-residents would approximate the amount of the overhead; thus, local citizens would be actually paying 100% of the amount needed by the county.

PROPERTY TAX
ADVANTAGES

• Everybody pays—businesses, homeowners, rental property owners, renters through their landlords, and out-of-state property owners.
• 100% of every dollar collected goes directly toward local services.
• There are no additional costs or overhead to manage the system.
• The rate is the same for everyone, but higher value property owners pay more.
• Senior citizens with household income under $37,000 may defer their taxes. (There have been no foreclosures of property due to non-payment of taxes in the last 5 years.)
• Property taxes are fully deductible for those that itemize on both federal and state income taxes.
• Property taxes are limited by the State provisions of Measures 5 and 50.
• Property taxes may be paid in three payments or monthly if paid through a mortgagee.
• All property taxes must be voted on by the citizens.

DISADVANTAGES

• When added to other property taxes such as schools, cities, and special districts, bill appears to be large, and homeowners feel like they carry most of the burden.