It's been a long time coming, but at yesterday's City Council meeting the "livability levy" was approved unanimously, setting up a highly interesting vote by Salem citizens in the May election.
A Salem Reporter story by Joe Siess contains some details:
Salem city councilors voted unanimously Monday to put a property tax increase before voters in May that, if passed, would help pay for the public library, parks maintenance, and programming at Center 50+.
If voters accept the five-year levy, property taxes would increase by 98 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value, or about $229 annually for the average homeowner in Salem. Tax rates are based on a home’s assessed value, which is typically about half of its market value.
The tax would generate about $14 million in fiscal year 2026 and that money would go specifically toward restoring hours at the public library that were cut in 2024 and maintaining Salem’s parks and Center 50+.
Though the money isn’t earmarked for public safety, it would free up money in the city’s general fund to pay for police and fire, which also face potential cuts if the levy fails. The city is struggling to balance a nearly $14 million budget deficit.
Backers of the levy who are strong supporters of the public library tried to get the Chemeketa Community College board to postpone the college's own property tax levy that also will be on the May ballot -- the concern being that when voters see two proposals to increase property taxes, they will be inclined to reject both.
Well, maybe. The Chemeketa board unanimously agreed to go ahead with the May levy, rejecting the arguments from Salem library supporters. Here's an excerpt from a Salem Reporter story by Rachel Alexander, "Chemeketa board asks voters to renew tax measure for career education, campus renovations."
The vote came after several speakers urged the board to delay running the Chemeketa measure again until November so it doesn’t compete with a city of Salem levy that would raise property taxes to pay for the city library, parks maintenance, recreation programs and Center 50+
Those city facilities face potential closure if the measure fails, said Jim Scheppke, a former state librarian who’s helping to lead a campaign for the levy.
“To win in what is not a great climate for a tax increase, we need to be the only money measure on the ballot,” Scheppke said.
[College President Jessica] Howard and the college’s board gave little weight to that argument during a brief question and answer session.
“I don’t think it’s really possible for us not to be on the ballot for another entity. Our district is too large and there are a lot of needs out there,” Howard said.
Board Chair Ken Hector echoed her sentiment, saying it’s likely other local governments will seek funding in November given the number that face budget crises.
I suspect that the fate of both the City of Salem and Chemeketa Community College property tax levy will hinge in large part on the overall mood of the electorate in May. It's an understatement to say that things are chaotic in Washington D.C. currently, and there's a good chance the chaos will increase over the next few months, not decrease.
Uncertainty about where our nation is heading tends to make people more cautious about their family finances. So while arguments about the merits of the livability levy ideally should be more important in determining its fate than national politics, I'm worried that the latter will be on the minds of Salem voters.
For we need a high quality library, along with proper funding for Center 50+ and parks. Hopefully proponents of the City of Salem levy will emphasize the finding that, on the whole, city government is operated in an efficient manner, which supports the need for the levy. Here's an excerpt from a Salem Reporter story by Joe Siess, "City efficiencies committee says cutting costs alone won't help plug deficit."
A group of financially-savvy executives tasked with looking at the city’s budget to identify ways to save agreed Friday that the city’s budgetary woes are less about wasteful spending and inefficiencies and are largely due to structural problems outside Salem’s control.
In discussions during four meetings over the past two weeks, group members concluded that while the city is already stretched thin by chronic understaffing and dwindling resources, it is successfully squeezing more services out of what it does have compared to comparably-sized cities like Eugene.
However, the committee said that current levels of service are unsustainable without addressing systemic issues like skyrocketing pension costs, the financial burden of being the state’s capital city, and the fact that revenues from property taxes have been frozen by constitutional amendment since the 1990s.
The committee’s chair, Brian Moore, said the group ultimately concluded the city cannot “efficiency” its way out of its predicament unless those external factors are addressed.
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