Washington County Commissioner Jason Snyder discusses library, public safety levies and regional housing with Sherwood council

Washington County Commissioner Jason Snyder met with the Sherwood City Council at a work session on April 15 for an open discussion about county budget pressures, a potential public safety levy, the library levy process and regional housing and homelessness coordination.

Snyder said the meeting was intended as an "open, rounding session" for him to hear city concerns, explain county constraints and identify areas where the county can partner with cities. He warned elected officials that the county faces a major near‑term budget gap: "our revenue is going down," Snyder said, and he identified the expiration of Intel‑related Strategic Investment Plan (SIP) arrangements as producing roughly a $20,000,000 annual general fund shortfall in the current budget cycle.

Library levy and WCCLS: Councilors pressed Snyder about the upcoming Washington County Cooperative Library Services (WCCLS) levy planning. Snyder said consultants modeling the levy have discussed a countywide base‑service level that could reduce local operating hours in some libraries to about 45 hours per week from current 55–60 hours at many branches; that modeling and the county’s distribution formula remain under review. Snyder acknowledged the political challenge of asking voters for more funding while modeling scenarios that could reduce service levels: "if the message is services are decreasing, pay a bunch more money, that just doesn't work," he said. He said the county will present a proposed distribution approach to elected officials before the levy goes to voters.

Public safety levy: Snyder and staff described a planned county public safety operating levy the county expects to place before voters as a replacement measure. Polling and early work discussed at the meeting indicated a possible levy rate in the neighborhood of $0.65 per $1,000 of assessed value to preserve current services; Snyder said revenues at prior levy rates would not be sufficient to maintain current operations, and he singled out specialty courts as one service that could be cut if funds are not maintained.

Budget pressures and options: Snyder listed three major drivers that elected officials consistently flag as nonnegotiable—jail/public safety, libraries, and MSTIP (the county's transportation program)—and told councilors the county is wrestling with how to sustain those services while addressing revenue declines and cost growth. He said the county has approved bonding approximately $150,000,000 of MSTIP to accelerate projects while interest rates remain comparatively favorable.

Staffing and retirement costs: Snyder said recruiting and retention have become acute problems for the county. He noted the county currently is one of the few jurisdictions in the area not broadly offering Public Employees Retirement System (PERS) pickup for eligible employees, a factor the county is reassessing as it seeks to remain competitive for staff.

Affordable housing, Sherwood West and homelessness: Councilors asked for county partnership on smaller, locally targeted affordable housing—land trusts and deed‑restricted housing that preserve affordability for decades. Snyder said the county and Metro are working through regional policy and program issues, but he encouraged local officials to align on goals so the county can better target assistance. On homelessness, Snyder and councilors discussed regional inefficiencies in service intake and the urgency of improving wraparound services; Snyder noted regional unsheltered counts have increased and that localities are grappling with scaling interventions and services.

Snyder closed by asking councilors for continued input and said he expects to repeat visits to cities in District 3 (which he described as including Sherwood and nearby cities) at least annually.