Lincoln County asking voters for small property tax increase to solely fund its Veterans Service office

By SHAYLA ESCUDERO/ Lincoln Chronicle

Ballots making their way to Lincoln County mailboxes have exactly one question – should voters approve a five-year local option levy to support veterans services.

If it passes, the levy would be the first levy to solely fund a Lincoln County department.

The proposed levy would collect 3.5 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value for five years starting in 2026, if approved by voters in the Nov. 4 special election. That translates to $10.50 a year for property assessed at $300,000.

Similar levies have had little success in rural Oregon in recent years. In 2017, Tillamook County voters turned down a levy that would have cost 5 cents per $1,000 assessed property and last year voters in Josephine County did the same.

If the measure passes, it would fund the current three full-time workers in the veterans office and an additional part-time outreach worker.

Its director says the move away from the county’s struggling general fund to a levy-funded department would provide a layer of security amid local, state and federal financial uncertainties.

The Veterans Service Office currently operates on $222,771 from the county’s general fund and $119,000 from the Oregon Department of Veterans Affairs. This pays for three full-time employees – two accredited veteran services officers and an administrative assistant.

If Measure 21-235 passes, the department would instead be financed by the levy and money from the state, said Veteran Services officer Keith Barnes. It also means the department can add a part-time worker to pick up the outreach Barnes currently does on top of his other duties. That outreach includes organizing resource fairs and attending events that increase the department’s visibility.

With a staff member whose sole responsibility is outreach, Barnes hopes that more time and energy could be devoted to getting the word out – a more active social media presence, sitting in hospital lobbies with brochures, manning booths at farmers markets, car shows and anywhere veterans might be in order to let them know of the benefits available to them.

The department is designed to help some of the 5,200 veterans in Lincoln County. According to the Census, over 11 percent of Lincoln County’s population are veterans.

“The hardest thing is when we find out a veteran had stage four cancer and passed away and didn’t know all the healthcare benefits available to them,” Barnes said.

How did get on ballot?

When Barnes was hired four years ago, former county administrator Tim Johnson encouraged department heads to look for alternative sources of funding, Barnes said.

According to Oregon law, levies can be used to fund veterans services and the sheriff’s offices.

The last time it was tried — in May 2018 — in Lincoln County, voters turned down a levy that would have raised $3.6 million a year to resume 24/7 sheriff’s patrols, hire more jail staff and develop corrections programs, and add two detectives.

Grants were an option, Barnes said, but they weren’t continuous so the department could spend a year training someone only to not be able to keep their position if they didn’t get the grant again. So, a levy became the more favorable option.

Barnes kept an eye on other counties trying to do the same thing.

When Josephine County’s levy failed last November, Barnes thought it would be important to do outreach with the veteran community early, so he started talking to service organizations such as the American Legion to see if there was support. Some veterans were asking the county before that whether it would seek a levy since some veterans came from other areas that already had passed such a measure.

This year’s tight county budget made it a favorable year to try it, Barnes said.

Lincoln County passed its $207 million budget in June that included a hiring freeze to make up for a $4 million shortfall. Revenue hasn’t kept pace with expenses and costs for materials have gone up while some federal grants have an uncertain future.

In September, for example, Polk County said it was reducing staff in its Veterans Services office from two to one amid budget cuts that affected multiple departments.

“If it passes it insulates us from the cuts,” Barnes said. “It’s protective.”

The topic came before county commissioners for the first and only time at their regular bi-monthly meeting and was approved unanimously to send it to the ballot.

Barnes had been in contact with commission chair Claire Hall because she was the commission’s liaison to his department. Barnes said he told Commissioner Walter Chuck at a National Night Out event the night before the commission’s Aug. 6 meeting. Commissioner Casey Miller was previously told informally, Barnes said.

According to the Oregon Secretary of State’s office, 17 of Oregon’s 36 counties are holding elections  Nov. 4. The local option levy is the only item on the ballot in Lincoln County and is estimated to cost between $40,000 and $50,000 to mail and count ballots of more than 40,000 registered voters.

Voters must turn in their ballots by 8 p.m. Nov. 4. Ballots that are mailed must be postmarked by election day. Ballots deposited in an official drop box must be received by 8 p.m.

• Shayla Escudero covers Lincoln County government, Newport, education, housing and social services for Lincoln Chronicle and can be reached at Shayla@LincolnChronicle.org