Jessica Cejnar Andrews / Tuesday, July 30 @ 2:30 p.m. / Elections, Local Government
Curry County Sheriff Says a Special Service District Would Be a Good Option For Keeping His Office Going, Though Time is Short For November's Election
Previously:
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(Updated at 11:42 a.m. Friday to clarify that Josephine County voters approved a service district for law enforcement, not a special district.)
Curry County’s sheriff said he doesn’t know if voters will be able to weigh in on a potential special service district for law enforcement during the November general election, but “we’re working on it.”
John Ward is expected to discuss potential solutions for funding his department with the Board of Commissioners at a workshop on Wednesday. Commissioners will also be asked to approve the sale of a K9 vehicle to Josephine County at a meeting following the workshop.
On Monday, Ward told commissioners that even if they can’t approve a ballot measure in time for the November election, it’s still worth pursuing a special district option for separating the sheriff’s office from the county’s general fund.
“If it doesn’t go on November’s ballot, it will go on, maybe next May,” Ward told the Wild Rivers Outpost on Tuesday. “But we’re working on it. It’s a work in progress.”
Ward began taking steps to create a special law enforcement district after voters rejected a property tax levy in May that would have allowed his department to provide service 24-7. At a Board of Commissioners meeting on July 18, he said he was creating a “board of members” who would draft a proposed measure for their consideration.
On Monday, Ward told commissioners that he had been in touch with state elections officials, who told him there wasn’t a lot of time for placing a measure on the November ballot. He said commissioners have to approve the language so he can submit it to the county elections office by Aug. 15.
The Board’s next regular meeting is Aug. 7.
If voters are amenable to the idea, a special district would allow the sheriff’s office to operate independent of the county, Ward told the Outpost. Josephine County voters approved a similar concept in November 2023, creating a special service district for to provide a permanent funding source for their sheriff’s office, Ward said.
In Josephine County, the creation of the special district service district set a fixed property tax rate of 99 cents per $1,000 of assessed value. That was anticipated to raise roughly $5.6 million in its first year with revenue paying for patrol deputies, dispatchers and evidence technicians.
Ward said his office wouldn’t be asking voters for a “huge amount of money for the district.”
“We’re going to try to cut it down to where we’re going to have enough people, but not what we had,” he told commissioners.
On Tuesday, Ward told the Outpost that the sheriff’s office would be funded through the law enforcement special district, but Curry County will still be responsible for Search & Rescue, civil services and the jail.
In Curry County, after the property tax levy failed, commissioners approved a budget that included staff layoffs — about 17 people lost their job, according to Commissioner Brad Alcorn — and department reorganizations. The county also used $1.18 million in interest revenue from its Road Department reserves to balance the budget.
On Monday, Ted Fitzgerald, who serves as the county’s director of operations and county counsel, said there’s roughly $6.9 million in the general fund currently with the sheriff’s office requiring about $3.4 million.
Ward went before commissioners Monday with a proposal to sell one of his office’s unused K9 vehicles to the Josephine County Sheriff's Office for $16,000. The 2019 Ford Explorer has 93,662 miles on the odometer and has a Kelley Blue Book value of $16,075, he said.
Commissioners said they wanted to wait until after Wednesday’s workshop before making a decision.
“I’d hate to give up a vehicle that we would need if a funding solution was passed,” Commissioner Jay Trost said.
The Josephine County Sheriff's Office is also fostering a K9 dog that belongs to Curry County, Ward said. That dog had come to Curry County through donations from local realtor Dick Wilson. Ward said he put a notice on a ListServ asking if anyone could foster the dog and heard from Josephine County Dave Daniel.
“I kept the dog for a week, and it was obvious — he almost killed my cat, wanted to fight other dogs — he’s a very loving dog, but to people,” Ward said. “He needed a lot of work. He was what they call a dirty dog because he didn’t have enough training. That’s what [Josephine County] is working on right now.”
If the Board of Commissioners approves the sale of the K9 car to Josephine County, Curry County would have three other vehicles. However, Ward said, since the sheriff’s office will never have four dogs in its K9 program, he felt it would be best to sell one of the cars.
Ward said the Josephine County sheriff has helped him obtain information on special service districts and willing to come and help with anything he needs.
“If we can help them and it doesn’t hurt us at all, I’d say we need to sell them the car,” Ward said.
The Curry County Board of Commissioners currently has oversight of the sheriff’s office. Fitzgerald noted that both the dog and the K9 vehicle are county assets, though the dog’s being fostered is a “different thing.”
Fitzgerald concurred with Curry County resident Joe Wilson who argued that the sheriff’s department should be independent of the county. The challenge is figuring out how to transfer the department’s assets out of control of the county, Fitzgerald said. Communicating that with the public is also in both the county and the sheriff’s office’s best interest, Fitzgerald said.
“I’ve never been through the budget process we just went through,” Fitzgerald said. “But trying to explain the Byzantine nature of how taking money out of the Road Funds to fund patrol actually impacts the assessor’s office — we shouldn’t have to try to explain that because it’s not the way things should work, so separating them is a great idea. We have to be committed to doing it.”
The workshop will be held at 2 p.m. Wednesday in the Board of Commissioners chambers, 94235 Moore Street in Gold Beach, Oregon. Agenda packets are available at www.co.curry.or.us. Meetings are stream lived on You Tube.
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