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Curry County’s newest commissioner asked his colleagues to consider gauging public opinion on a potential levy that would help pay for, among other services, a 24-7 sheriff’s office.

At a workshop Wednesday, Jay Trost drew his colleagues’ attention to a five-year strategic plan the Curry County Board of Commissioners created in 2020. He noted that the document addresses financial stability, economic development, quality of life, public trust and infrastructure.

Trost suggested using one-time money to hire a consultant who can gather community feedback on what programs and services should be prioritized and whether they would support a tax or levy to pay for those services.

“It’s a good document,” Trost said of the strategic plan. “The quality of life portion is great. It talks about increasing housing options for residents and increasing affordability to reduce homelessness. (It talks about) planning efforts, permitting efforts, code enforcement efforts and identifying secured permanent funding for law enforcement to meet the community’s desired level of service ... So, what is the adequate budget for law enforcement? What does that look like? What is that budget?”

Trost’s request comes roughly a month before the Board of Commissioners gets its first look at the county’s proposed 2023-24 budget in May.

He and his colleagues also discussed holding further workshops on emergency services and transiency lodging taxes.

The desire to consider a more sustainable way to fund county services comes after commissioners in August shied away from placing a consumption tax measure on the November 2022 ballot.

Board Chairman John Herzog and Boice felt the county had run out of time and, instead, decided 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 Josephine County voters rejected it, Jefferson Public Radio reported in November.

On Wednesday, Trost mentioned a third-party consultant the Brookings-Harbor School District hired to determine whether voters in their community would support a school bond measure.

His colleague, Commissioner Brad Alcorn brought up the failed Josephine County tax measure and the proposed consumption tax measure and referred to the part in the strategic plan concerning public trust.

But, Alcorn said, one thing he learned while campaigning last year is that Curry County residents want a 24-7 sheriff’s department.

“If the sheriff were here, he would tell you they do respond 24-7 and they do, but when I say 24-7, we have sheriff’s deputies on duty 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” Alcorn said. “I think we need to know what the cost is and then we need to look at what our funding options are to fund (the sheriff’s office) independently, and what that’s going to look like.”

Alcorn said if the Board of Commissioners is considering implementing a levy for county services, better communication with the community is important.

“People need to understand what they’re saying yes or no to, and it needs to be clear and concise and really simple,” he said. “I think we’re going to need professional help with that.”

Alcorn pointed out that the workshop that addresses emergency services will also focus on the protocols and procedures for when a warming shelter should be set up. Managers from the three cities in Curry County as well as elected officials have been invited. Alcorn suggested doing that with other critical issues.

Curry County Clerk Shelley Denney said that if the Board of Commissioners is considering placing a levy on a future ballot, they may want to wait until May 2024 or potentially November 2024.

“That is the presidential (election), so you’ll have a majority of your voters voting then,” she said. “If you were to try to put it on November of this year, it’s not a regular election, so the county’s going to have to bear the full cost and that’s going to be about $40,000.”


Curry County Treasurer David Barnes, who in January 2022 proposed a consumption tax measure for the November ballot, asked commissioners to reach out to Josephine County Commissioner Dan DeYoung.

“He spent two years working on the consumption tax and he put together folks, groups, had public forums, had all the studies done and everything else,” Barnes said. “It’s important to reach out to Dan. He has done all the legwork so you won’t repeat that kind of stuff.”

Nesika Beach resident Joe Wilson argued that Curry County has a “constitutional sheriff” and his funding should be independent.

“He doesn’t answer to the FBI, he doesn’t answer to the state police, he answers to the Constitution and he answers to the voters,” he said. “I think you are talking about possibly having a vote on independently financing the sheriff. I know that has not been successful in the past, but things have changed and I think we’re on the edge of losing Constitutional rights in this state.”

Wilson said he would support a levy or tax for law enforcement being placed on a future ballot, saying he would help advocate for it.

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