The Eugene Area Chamber of Commerce recognizes the critical role public safety plays in a vibrant local economy. The Chamber believes our region needs to continue to work together to identify long-term sustainable solutions to public safety. The Lane County Public Safety serial levy has been effective in addressing a funding shortage at the county level over the past four years and the Chamber believes a continued levy to fund critical public safety services such as jail beds and youth services is appropriate.
The Chamber supports Lane County Measure 20-271 for a continued 5 year, focused Public Safety serial levy of $.55 per $1,000.
The Local Government Affairs Council (LGAC) is a committee of 27 appointed Chamber members representing a variety of businesses in our region. LGAC gathers every Friday to hear about current issues affecting the local economy and as needed, advises the policy positions of the Chamber.
LGAC would like to inform membership of the following findings:
- Insufficient funding for public safety has been shown to have a negative impact on our community, region, and its economy.
- When financial resources are limited, public safety services correspondingly decline.
- LGAC has been kept up-to-date on the effectiveness and efficiency of the 2013 decision to support the public safety levy.
- In the past year Lane County Commissioners responsibly lowered the levy rate as they recognized the funding level was adequate for the level of services they could provide.
The proposed levy will appear on the May 2017 ballot and will continue to fund and maintain a minimum of 255 local jail beds over the five-year period and will provide additional counseling and youth treatment services for Lane County youth offenders. It will levy $.55 per $1,000 assessed valuation and will begin in 2018.
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