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Commissioners review draft East County Public Safety District policy; ask for edits and ballot preparation
Summary
The board reviewed a draft policy for an East County Public Safety District, discussed replacing the term 'policing' with 'public safety,' contracting flexibility, budget committee composition, and limits on future tax escalators; commissioners asked for edits and to bring a revised draft back next week.
County counsel presented a draft policy document for an East County Public Safety District and commissioners discussed language, governance, contracting, and ballot timing, directing staff to circulate edits and return the policy for finalization the following week.
Counsel said the draft is not the ballot title but a guiding policy document the county could present to voters and asked each commissioner to mark up suggested edits. Commissioners raised several items they wanted addressed in the draft: one asked that the ballot or policy specify the district’s budget committee composition (the commissioner plus three district residents); several preferred broad language allowing the district to contract for multiple services, not only policing, and suggested using terms such as “enhanced public safety” rather than “policing.”
Commissioners and staff discussed whether to include assessor guidance on combining tax lots and how exclusive or detailed ballot language should be; counsel noted caption and summary length limits for ballot materials. One commissioner raised concerns about future funding increases and was advised that the assessor and the Oregon Department of Revenue (DOR) indicated there's no statutory mechanism to add an automatic escalator; any future increase would require revisiting the measure.
Board members agreed to circulate edits by the end of the week; counsel said a sample ballot title could be distributed and the item would return to the board next week for further review and possible finalization of ballot language.
No formal action was taken on the draft at this meeting; the board set a timeline to continue work and finalize language.
