Budget Thoughts for Advancing to the Next Level

Dear fellow Coos County employees:

Failure of the Public Safety levy has thrown many County employees into uncertainty about their futures with the County. We are all concerned about what lies ahead.

There have been some suggestions brought forward, both from County staff and from the public. I have seen a few good ones, and partially based on those, put forward the concepts below that I will be advocating for in additional budget hearings, the next of which will be on Tuesday, June 18 at 2:30 PM in the Owen building.

The current budget struggle is the result of combined forces: first, the continued illegal taking of the County’s rightful revenues from O&C lands, State Forest Trust Lands, and Coos Bay Wagon Road Lands, and second, the unprecedented inflation that has resulted from the Biden administration’s disastrous economic policies.

In budget deliberations I will not vote for any proposal that curtails public safety. This includes the Sheriff’s Department, the Jail, and the District Attorney’s Prosecution Division. These institutions must remain fully funded in order to protect the safety of the public and the rule of law in Coos County. The jail must remain open with a minimum two pods, and the goal of a third open pod should remain on the table in the shortest term possible.

The possibility of internal cost savings at the County is one topic to address in this discussion, and includes more than one component. One idea is to make leave without pay available to all employees, in coordination with their respective department heads. Ideally, this would be available for a certain number of weeks per year, would not affect accrued vacation, and would not elicit any change in insurance coverages. I have put the topic of Commissioners’ salary reduction on Tuesday’s BOC agenda once more, for a 25% reduction this time since a 20% reduction was found an undesirable approach a few months ago.

A second idea is to identify waste in departments that has not yet been brought to the attention of the Commissioners. Toward that end, I encourage anyone to reach out to me with any knowledge of waste. Such contact will be guaranteed anonymous, a confidential conversation between you and me. My personal cell phone number is 541-404-6825. Please feel free to use it, call or text.

Another idea that has been presented is to abdicate the established (and needed) rolling average on County Forest timber revenues, and use some of those monies to balance the budget this year. I think that this is a viable part of our solution, especially if we also use a portion, maybe half of the remaining $1.3 million of ARP funds. This is not a long-term solution at all, but an emergency stop gap while a more viable long-term answer is sought after.

Cuts and cost reductions are only one small part of solving this problem. The longer-term solution is to fix the revenue side. With the issue of O & C and Wagon Road timber revenues not resolved in the courts, this elusive solution is on us to figure out. There is one idea that I believe holds the greatest promise for this; in the coming days, I will be seeking input from the public and from County employees alike to determine the viability of the following.

The current operating title for this idea is the “Tax Swap.” The basic idea is that if Coos County were to implement a 2% retail sales tax, with unprepared food and pharmaceuticals excepted, it would raise between $15 and $20 million annually, according to data from the US Census Bureau. We would be able to reduce the annual levy of the permanent property tax rate of $1.08 per thousand by half or more, or perhaps eliminate it. This would effectively transfer a large portion of the County’s General Fund operating burden from the backs of property owners, to be shared with tourists and travelers whose purchases equate to between 30% and 40% of retail spending in Coos County. It may be appropriate to place a cap on purchase size that pays the sales tax, so as to not adversely affect local sellers of big ticket items like cars, RVs, and the like.

One of the beauties of this kind of tax swap is that a sales or consumption tax follows inflation, and so we would avoid the scenario where we have to keep going back and asking for more property tax money from people who cannot afford higher property tax rates. It would also have a stimulating effect on new housing construction in Coos County, as property taxes would be reduced by anywhere from $300 per year up to over $1000 per year.

I believe that if we were to use a portion of ARP funds in combination with some forestry funds to cover the 24/25 budget, and then could get the sales tax passed on the November ballot that we would be able to repay the forestry funds, keep the jail open at two pods, and allow the remaining open positions in the Sheriff’s department and the District Attorney’s office to be filled. The plan would also require a guarantee that so many beds would be open in the jail and that public safety will not experience cuts.

I will be holding a public Townhall on Monday the 17th at 6:30 PM at Marshfield high school‘s Heritage Hall. We will be discussing all of these topics and seeking the public perspective so that we are moving forward with the people’s will in mind. Then it will be incumbent on all Coos County residents to indicate their preferences to us Commissioners so that we are acting in accordance with the will of the people. After all, we work for them.

This was a long email, but I appreciate you having taken the time to read it, and I will love to hear from as many of you as are so inclined.

May God richly bless you all.

At your service,

Rod Taylor

Chair, Coos County Board of Commissioners

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