Oregon voters on Tuesday passed most local fire, school funding proposals

Oregonians on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved new, or renewed, taxes to fund rural firefighting departments and school districts.

Funding for local fire districts were on ballots in one quarter of Oregon’s 36 counties, and just three of 16 proposals failed. Among nine school districts that asked local taxpayers to approve a bond or levy — essentially taking out a loan to pay for services and infrastructure — just one school district, in Harney County, failed to get approval.

These were among more than 80 local ballot measures Oregonians in 27 counties were asked to vote on in the midterm election. Others that passed include bans on marijuana or psilocybin processing and sales, as well as a 1-cent gas tax in the town of Rufus, population roughly 250.

Two county proposals to increase taxes on hotels and Airbnbs had mixed results, with one passing and the other — which would have raised up to $300,000 per year for Columbia County services — failing.

Environmental groups in Eugene who backed a tax on large retailers to create a clean energy fund similar to Portland’s celebrated voters’ passage of the proposal this week. The proposed 2% tax on gross profits from companies like Amazon and Walmart that earn more than $1 billion in profits annually nationwide, and over $500,000 in profits within Eugene, will fund renewable energy and energy efficiency projects in the city. Supporters expect it could raise up to $15 million a year.

“Eugenians raised their voices loud and clear because they know we can’t count on the state or federal government to deliver cleaner, local and more affordable energy,” said Britney VanCitters, political and organizing director at the Oregon League of Conservation Voters, in a statement. “Establishing the Eugene Clean Energy Fund means we are ready to take action at the local level, an example we hope other cities will follow.”

Fire

Following a record wildfire season, voters in nine counties were asked to send more operating or infrastructure money to local fire districts. Of 16 proposals across those counties, 13 passed while three failed.

Property taxes fund the bulk of local fire departments and fire districts, but Measures 5 and 50 that passed in the 1990s essentially limited the growth of those taxes across the state by basing property values on a rate-limited assessment rather than market worth. Other property tax suppressants, such as urban renewal districts and enterprise zones meant to incentivize development and job growth with low to no property taxes for a number of years, also siphon dollars from fire departments.

In Benton County, Albany and Adair rural fire protection districts passed bonds and operating levies worth nearly $3 million. Voters in Marion and Clackamas County approved merging the Monitor and Mt. Angel fire districts and approved funding the new district with a permanent property tax levy of $1.97 per $1,000 of assessed value. In Marion County, the Gates and Stayton fire districts also passed levies to provide $300,000 and $7.7 million in operations funding over the next four and five years, respectively.

But in Troutdale, voters shot down a proposal to send nearly $19 million over five years to the city’s police, fire and 911 operations. And in Pendleton voters for the second time this year rejected a tax levy to fund fire and ambulance operations.

The levy, also proposed during the May primary, would have raised about $1.6 million annually to help pay for six firefighters, a mechanic able to work on emergency vehicles, a fire prevention inspector, data analyst and grant writer.

Department officials said in the ballot proposal language that they have experienced a “64% surge in call volume with no corresponding increase in responding resources, amid rising operational demands, including higher costs for supplies,equipment, fleet maintenance, insurance, health care, and other services.”

SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX.

Schools

Eight of the nine school districts that appealed to voters for more than $1 billion in new funding for school infrastructure, including security and safety measures, got what they asked for.

In Bend, across state, voters have approved hundreds of millions for school safety as shootings rise

In Hillsboro, nearly 80% of voters approved renewing a local tax levy they’ve been paying since 2006 that’s expected to raise $62 million over the next five years to help pay for roughly 10% of the district’s operating budget. More than 60% also approved the largest bond request in the election, for $430 million to fix aging infrastructure and improve safety and vocational education facilities.

Voters in North Clackamas approved the next highest bond for $245 million, and voters in Multnomah County approved for Reynolds School District a $162.5 million bond to replace an elementary school built in the 1950s. The Gladstone, Glide, Grants Pass, Silver Falls and Siuslaw districts also passed smaller eight-figure bonds.

A nearly $49 million bond to build a new K-8 school and upgrade the high school in Harney County did not pass. District officials there have not successfully passed a school bond for more than 20 years.

Drugs, hotels and gas

Those hoping to open a large-scale marijuana processing facility in Estacada, or open a pot shop in Sutherlin, will be disappointed with the results of ballot measures from voters in the two cities.

In Estacada, voters approved a ban on marijuana processing, manufacturing and wholesaling. And in Sutherlin, voters rejected a proposal to repeal the city’s ban on marijuana facilities. In Warrenton, voters approved keeping a tax on marijuana sales that complies with state law limiting them to a 3% charge. The city had previously charged a 10% local tax.

In Joseph, Redmond and Reedsport, psilocybin therapies will not be allowed. Voters in those cities either approved new or renewed bans on the drug, which has been legal to use statewide in supervised sites since 2020, but cities and counties are allowed to opt out.

Hotels and Airbnbs in Bandon will have a 2.5% higher transient lodging tax after voters approved the proposal, bringing the tax up from 9.5% to 12% on stays under 30 days. An initiative in Columbia County, which would have required unincorporated parts of the county with no transient lodging tax to impose a 13% tax on short-term stays and increase cities’ existing transient lodging taxes by 4%, failed to pass.

Although Oregonians rejected a 6-cent per gallon gas tax increase in the May primary, voters in Rufus, a town of roughly 250 in north-central Oregon along the Columbia River and Interstate 84, agreed to a new 1-cent-per-gallon gas tax increase to help fund local roads.