Greetings fellow citizens of Josephine County and welcome to this edition of Community Matters; the general election is just around the corner and we all will have many decisions to make regarding our country, state, county, and (for some of us) our city. There will be very important measures on the local ballots that will impact the quality of life we all enjoy: Public Safety being at the top of that list. I want to thank all of the civic minded citizens who come and speak up at the BOCC weekly meetings, as well as the ones who contact directly for clarification on these important issues. I have compiled some of these questions and provided answers as follows:

Are the city of Grants Pass and Josephine County competing with each
other by having separate ballot measures in the November election?
Not really. Wherever you live in Josephine County, you will be
deciding in this election whether to ensure you have law enforcement and
a jail. For Grants Pass residents, there will be two measures on the
ballot: one to support the Grants Pass Police and Fire departments and
the other to support the Josephine County Sheriff’s jail. For rural
county residents, there will also be two measures on the ballot: one to
support the Sheriff patrols and the other for the Sheriff’s jail.
There is no redundancy. No matter where you live in Josephine County,
you will be deciding to support the agency that provides you a law
enforcement officer in your community and a jail to keep the criminals
locked up. Both pieces are essential to a decent public safety system.

Are the County Commissioners committed to finding other sources of
revenue to support public safety besides property taxes?
Absolutely. Remember, the two Sheriff Districts are replacing only
about 75% of the $12 million in “O&C” payments the county lost which
has supported your public safety. The Sheriff’s District will not
support two other extremely critical pieces of the public safety system:
the District Attorney’s Office and Juvenile Justice (detention center
and shelter). I am committed to developing other revenue sources to
support these essential pieces of public safety. Other potential
sources include renewable energy projects, increasing timber receipts on
federal lands, or providing new services/products that bring in new
revenue.

Has the County done anything to reduce costs of County government?
Yes. First of all the number of Full Time Equivalent positions in your
county government workforce has been reduced over 40% in the last 3-5
years. County employees have endured reductions in benefits. The most
significant cuts were made in 2007 when the libraries were closed and
there were further reductions in staff throughout many county programs,
including County administration.

Can’t the County just move funding away from less important programs
to fund public safety?
Approximately 80% of County revenues are mandated
funds that can not be spent on programs other than what those funds are
intended for. The loss of $12 Million of federal funding equals over
two-thirds of our general fund, funds where we have a choice over how to
spend. It is impossible to cover the two-thirds loss with the remaining
one-third. In addition, that other one-third supports essential county
programs such as the District Attorney’s Office, Juvenile Justice,
Assessors Office, tax collection, building and maintenance, legal
department and so on. Without these programs, there simply would be no
county government.

County voters have said no to property taxes in the past, why ask them
again?
Because something very fundamental has changed. For decades, federal
dollars were coming in each year to pay for these services. Previous tax
levies were intended to supplement those federal dollars. For the first
time in decades, we are not receiving that level of federal dollars.
This is a new situation for Josephine County citizens. These are not
ballot measures to supplement those federal dollars, these proposals are
to replace those federal dollars.

Why does Dave Toler support the Sheriff’s Districts and Grants Pass
public safety levy?
As your county commissioner, I want to ensure the safety of our
citizens and the success of our local economy. To achieve those goals, we simply must provide stable funding for public safety. Many people move to our area because of its amazing quality of life. Public
safety is the foundation to maintaining that quality of life.

Thank you for taking the time to read this edition of Community Matters. Again, the general election contains important measures that will impact us all. I urge all of us to get more involved, study the issues, attend (or watch on RVTV) the public meetings, consider the impact your vote has the quality of life we all enjoy, and take your opportunity to participate in the American way of life, by voting in the primary election this fall.

Commissioner Dave Toler
dtoler@co.josephine.or.us