Image by Tungilik via Wikimedia Commons. Public Domain

Curry County commissioners on Wednesday agreed to work with Nelson Research Group to gauge community support for a potential bond measure.

Commissioners unanimously approved a $19,700 proposal with the Salem-based firm with Board Chair John Herzog saying he thinks voters should weigh in on a bond measure by November 2024.

According to Director of Operations and County Counsel Ted Fitzgerald, the company’s research can help county officials determine what voters would be interested in approving.
“This has been tried before, the levy’s been tried before,” Fitzgerald said. “We should find out what voters are interested in, or if they are (interested), before we do the expenditure of going to a ballot.”

Nelson Research Group plans to conduct 12-minute online and phone interviews with 390 “likely county voters.” They will measure voter sentiment on county performance, departments and services. Voters’ own personal economic circumstances will be discussed as will what departments and services they think are most important.
Researchers will also gauge voters’ willingness to support a bond measure as well as any potential alternatives.

According to the county’s staff report, the survey is expected to take about a month to complete. Nelson Research will then present its findings to the Board of Commissioners.

Shortly after his appointment in March, Commissioner Jay Trost asked his colleagues to consider hiring a consultant to gather community feedback on the programs and services they think are most important.

Trost suggested using one-time money to pay for that consultant, who would also determine whether voters would support a tax or levy to pay for those services.

On Wednesday, Trost said he liked the method Nelson Research Group proposed using for their research.

“I like the thought that goes behind this and the ability to craft a funding option that we can have some confidence that the public will be agreeable to,” he said.

Trost’s colleague Brad Alcorn pointed to the possibility of running out of money in the county’s Road Reserve Fund and the lack of revenue coming in to maintain services paid for through the general fund.

“Getting this information back from this research company will help us make the best informed decision we can and will be a reflection of what the community wants,” he said.

The Curry County Board of Commissioners had considered placing a consumption tax measure on the November 2022 ballot. However, Herzog and then-commissioner Court Boice felt the county had run out of time and wanted to see how a similar Law Enforcement Retail Activity Tax Measure would fare in Josephine County.

That 3 percent tax would have supported the Josephine County Sheriff’s Office; however, more than 80 percent of voters in that county rejected it.

SHARE →