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Sweet Home council signals unanimous support to place police and library levy renewals on May ballot
Summary
At a work session the Sweet Home City Council agreed to pursue renewing two five-year levies — the police operating levy and the library operating levy — at their current rates and to place the measures on the May ballot ahead of their June 2026 expiration.
The Sweet Home City Council signaled unanimous support at a work session to place renewals of the city’s police operating levy and library operating levy on the May ballot, keeping both levies at their current rates.
City Manager Ogden told the council the police and library levies are scheduled to expire in June 2026 and that staff is proposing the city seek voter renewal in May so the city has time to respond if a measure fails. "We are going to attempt to go out during the May election to, to renew these," Ogden said.
Mac Brown, the city’s contractor financial adviser, presented rate histories and a short-term forecast and recommended no increase. "I would not anticipate or or propose that you increase the levy at all," Brown said, adding that the city is in a "financially healthy position" and that continuing at current rates is a "safe option." Brown also noted property-tax growth in the projections is about 2.8 percent annually.
The library operating levy currently is $1.17 per $1,000 of assessed value; the police operating levy is $7.85 per $1,000. Both levies were last increased in 2015 and the council confirmed both measures run on five-year cycles. The levies’ legal expiration is June 2026.
Council members who spoke during the work session expressed support for placing the renewals on the May ballot without increasing the rates. One councilor noted appreciation for previous years when public safety staff requested less than the full allowable levy when operational needs did not require it.
Council members asked about the cost of placing the measures on the May ballot. Brown said he contacted Linn County Elections but that officials there told him "they have a very complex algorithm. And it is basically too difficult for them to tell individual cities how much our share is." The council was told staff will return in February with a resolution to place the measures on the ballot and to provide any additional required filing language.
Because this was a work session there was no formal vote; council discussion produced what staff described as a unanimous consensus to move forward with renewal measures at the current rates and to return a formal resolution for council action in February.
