Keizer council directs interim police-fee changes, orders deeper review after hours of debate

Keizer — The Keizer City Council spent the majority of its May 4 meeting debating a proposed police services fee and gave staff mixed but specific direction intended to preserve public safety staffing while the council refines a permanent method to allocate costs.

City Manager Brown told the council the city has exhausted one-time reserves and that the police-fee task force recommended a fee based on Equivalent Service Units (ESUs). Brown said the analysis showed that without a revenue change the city would have to consider a reduction in force “of at least 10” positions, a budget gap that staff said could equate to roughly a 20% cut within the police department if reductions were concentrated there.

The staff report included several options: (a) retain a flat per-door rate for residents, (b) switch to an ESU-based model that multiplies a base fee by measured impervious surface (the ESU), or (c) a tiered model that reduces the burden on very small businesses. Staff noted models tested included a flat ESU number equivalent to about $14.34 per ESU, and a modified tier that produced residential effects in the low $12 range.

Councilors pressed staff on fairness and the economic impact to local businesses. Council members and staff acknowledged business leaders’ concerns after a chamber meeting and written comments from local operators alleging that certain large venues (one business estimate cited in the record put possible impacts in the thousands monthly under some models) would be hit very hard if a straightforward ESU multiplier were applied.

To avoid immediate layoffs while the council develops final policy, the council directed staff to implement a lower, interim step for the remainder of 2026 and to prepare materials for the budget committee and a public advisory vote option. The direction adopted in council chambers (motion language and votes recorded in the meeting) included:

- Direct staff to study and report on the feasibility of switching the city services bill to monthly billing (to ease resident cash-flow impacts) and return with implementation details.

- For the period July 1–December 31, 2026, set a transitional rate that raises residential bills above the current $6.90/month to $10.62/month (per residential door) and applies an ESU-based commercial charge (staff to implement per the model discussed); the council asked staff to clarify how ESUs will be assigned, and to identify sensible caps or tiering for large properties.

- Direct staff to bring back a refined ESU tiering/work-session recommendation and to prepare an ordinance or staff report on steps required to place an advisory question on a ballot (the council asked the city attorney to draft options and timing).

City Manager Brown and the finance lead said modeling the transitional approach should yield enough additional revenue to avoid immediate staff cuts and buy time to craft a permanent approach that balances residential and business impacts. Brown told the council: “If the council says we don’t want to make any of those changes, we need to come back with a reduction in force.”

Business and community reaction was a recurring point: council members noted outreach to the Chamber of Commerce and individual businesses, but several councilors also said many residents and smaller enterprises remain unaware of the scale of the change. The council asked staff to return to the budget committee with detailed line items and to hold additional community briefings so affected operations — from nonprofits and small shops to large retail lots — can review potential bills under any ESU-based approach.

Next steps: staff will model and publish detailed ESU assignments, estimated bills for representative residential and commercial properties, and draft ordinance language for an advisory vote option. The council scheduled follow-up budget work and signaled it would revisit the permanent rate and any ballot referral ahead of the next fiscal-year decisions.