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1992-24259-Minutes for Meeting June 29,1992 Recorded 7/15/199292-242s9 0118-1213 MINUTES DESCHUTES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS x°,• June 29, 1992 ;lj; v ° u• J$ Ll Chairman Maudlin called the meeting to order at 10 a.m. Board `' rr members in attendance were: Dick Maudlin, Tom Throop and Nancy Pope Schlangen. Also present were: Rick Isham, County Counsel; Mike Maier, County Administrator; Bruce White, Assistant Legal Counsel; Darrell Davidson, Sheriff; and George Read, Planning Director. 1. PUBLIC HEARING: EFFECT OF PROPOSED LEVY ON OTHER LOCAL Before the Board was public hearing concerning the effect of the proposed increase in Deschutes County's current tax levy authority on other units of local government. The levy involved was the proposed levy to bring the Sheriff's Department back to a 40 -hour workweek. Susan Mayea passed out a Combined Tax Rate Comparison sheet for government/non-school taxing entities. This year the total rate for non -school was 6.2225. The proposed serial levy was $909,292 per year. Based on a $5 billion valuation for Deschutes County, that would mean a first year rate of .1818 cents per thousand valuation for a total county tax rate 1.5889 or a $.10 increase in this year's County tax rate. This would not place the combined tax over the $10 limit. If the levy passed, the City of Bend area would have a tax rate of $6.3387, and Redmond would have the highest government rate of $8.2038. Chairman Maudlin opened the public hearing for testimony. Joshua Marquis, Chief Deputy District Attorney for Deschutes County, said he wanted to speak in support of the Sheriff's levy. He said it was critical that it be passed, however he was disappointed that the amount of the levy did not include money to return the District Attorney's office to a 40 -hour workweek. It would only take another 2.3 cents per thousand valuation for a total of $90,000 a year, and the total request would still be under $1 million per year. If that was not possible and the levy passed, every other part of the criminal justice system would be operating at 100% and the District Attorney's Office, which was in the middle, would not. Maryann Houser Christman testified that it was "ridiculous" for the Commissioners to equalize the importance of all County services, when the allocation of funds should be based upon the priority of the County's needs. She felt funding the HVD PAGE 1 MINUTES: 6-29-92 0118-1214 libraries was optional and not a necessity. She also questioned spending over $400,000 promoting tourism when there was inadequate funding of the District Attorney's Office. She used an analogy of homeowners who used their money to paint their house when it needed new electrical wiring. The house looked great on the surface but wasn't safe. Today was the fifth anniversary of her parents' murder. They were fortunate to receive the "best justice they could have hoped for." Others in her position might not be afforded the same service. She urged the Board to provide the District Attorney's Office with the additional funding requested. Don Anderson said that when he came to Bend many of his friends laughed at him because he locked his car doors, however eight years later, they were no longer laughing and were locking their doors too. He was glad to hear that the County was asking voters for more money for the Sheriff's Department, however for 2 or 3 cents more, the District Attorney's office could be funded also. He worked for eight month on the grand jury and was familiar with what the District Attorney's Office and the Sheriff's Office had to do. He felt the whole system would "jam" if the District Attorney's office wasn't returned to full work hours also. Alan Bruckner, representing the Bend City Commission and the County residents within the Bend City limits, testified that the City of Bend residents were "short changed" by the County because they paid County taxes equal to all other County residents, but did not receive equal delivery of services. Specifically, he was referring to the Sheriff's Department Patrol Services. They had no complaint about the Sheriff's Department. Ben City Police had an excellent relationship with them and acknowledged the many services that the Sheriff did deliver to city residents equally, i.e. the jail. However, the County Sheriff's Department would not patrol within the Cities of Deschutes County even though one-third of the County's residents lived within and over one-half of the County's tax collections came from the cities. City residents taxed themselves heavily for police services which provided a great benefit for rural residents who worked and shopped in the cities while paying nothing for those police services. Bend city residents paid five times as much per capita for public safety than suburban and rural residents. This was not a new issue. He had written a letter to the editor of the Bulletin in February 1990, and later that year, he forwarded an Oregonian editorial which outlined how each of the Portland area counties recognized and were dealing with this issue of fair taxation for police services. The city was asked to drop the issue until after the Sheriff's levy; at the tax coordination meeting in December, they were asked to drop the issue until after the tax base vote in May, so they felt it was now time to address this issue. If Bend residents PAGE 2 MINUTES: 6-29-92 0118-1215 shouldn't have to pay property taxes for Redmond police services, then why should they pay for police patrols for LaPine, Terrebonne and other rural areas; unless those areas also paid for Bend patrols. Because of this inequity, this Bend City Commission unanimously endorsed that he attend the hearing and express their displeasure with the County -wide Sheriff's levy. They requested that the levy apply only to those persons who directly benefitted from those services through the formation of a Sheriff's Patrol District which excluded the incorporated cities. Commissioner Throop said he did not think that the City of Bend proposal was what was happening in the urban counties which Mr. Bruckner had referred to and were in the Oregonian editorial. In those particular counties, all citizens of the County paid for a minimum level of service (1 deputy per thousand population) and then areas outside of the cities where they wished to enhance their law enforcement services, they paid for the extra. In Deschutes County there were approximately .64 deputies per thousand population. He felt what Mr. Bruckner was proposing was being done nowhere else in the state. He asked Mr. Bruckner to clarify the inequity. Mr. Bruckner said each county in the Portland area used a totally different method for determining equity, however they all recognized that the present situation was inequitable. He felt the specific levels of sheriff's protection within the counties were irrelevant. Those people who were getting enhanced services should pay for that enhanced service. They had no objection to funding the city police department and to expanding it as areas were annexed, but did not feel that City residents should also pay for Sheriff's patrols from which they received no service. Commissioner Throop said he felt there was a "deep division" between the City and the County on this issue. The County believed that it was in all County citizens best interest to have a minimum level of Sheriff service which everybody would pay for. If some areas wanted additional services, then special districts could be formed for the enhancement. He understood this was not an issue for the Cities of Redmond and Sisters, and the Chiefs of Police for Bend, Redmond and Sisters all supported the current system. He suggested a counter proposal. Since there were four governments in Deschutes County which were involved with police services and duplicated services and staff (i.e. dispatch, administrative staff, clerical staff), he suggested putting together a "blue ribbon citizens committee" to analyze the four law enforcement agencies for possible consolidation into a single law enforcement agency with higher quality service for less cost to the taxpayer. He asked if the City would be interested in doing that? PAGE 3 MINUTES: 6-29-92 0118-1216 Mr. Bruckner said he would certainly take that suggestion back to the City Commission, however he didn't see why the tax fairness issue could not be addressed now. Chairman Maudlin said he had discussed this issue with Mayor Bruckner before, and he felt one of the problems was how to get the voters to approve this kind of a "fairness" proposal. If the issue was addressed for City of Bend residents, it would also have to be addressed for the Cities of Redmond and Sisters. These city residents totaled about 30,000 voters and there were approximately 50,000 voters living outside the city. The people living outside of the cities would be asked to vote to increase their taxes and lower the taxes of those living inside the cities because it was more fair. He didn't feel that issue would pass. He also pointed out that the Sheriff's Department and the cities worked on a partnership basis, and road maintenance sometimes overlapped boundaries, however he felt the parties were trying to work these problems out. He understood these concerns because when he was on the City Commission, they decided not to pay for libraries twice. Concerning the testimony about increasing the 'District Attorney's office to full time, he said the Board had not been approached about this issue until this hearing, although one call had been received by Commissioner Schlangen. Changing the levy now would require that the whole process start over from the beginning. He hoped that the levy would be helpful to other general funds departments in some ways, since they would be transferring only those general funds dollars which were in this year's budget for the next two years with no increase to the Sheriff's Department. Darrell Davidson commented that all they were trying to do with this levy was survive. He felt the point the City of Bend was missing was that if the Sheriff's patrols were not working on the "bad guys" outside the cities, the cities would have a bigger problem. He also didn't think the City of Bend was paying one-half of the Sheriff's Department budget; it was more like one-third. Commissioner Schlangen asked the Sheriff if the District Attorney had talked with him about trying for a joint levy. Sheriff Davidson said the District Attorney had mentioned it to him three or four weeks ago. Sheriff Davidson said he felt he had better take care of his own office. Commissioner Throop said this was the first he had heard directly about a request from the District Attorney to be a part of the Sheriff's levy. He felt he should have come forward sooner. Chairman Maudlin closed the public hearing. PAGE 4 MINUTES: 6-29-92 2. 0 4. 0118-1217 RESOLUTION 92-049 MAKING BUDGET APPROPRIATIONS Before the Board was signature of Resolution 92-049 making appropriations of the Deschutes County Budget for fiscal year 1992-93. The County had received an extension from the Assessor for the adoption of the Deschutes County 1992-93 fiscal year budget and ad valorem tax levies until September 23, 1992, and after the proposed election on the serial levy for law enforcement. Therefore, to begin the fiscal year in July, the County had to make appropriations for all County Departments in the areas of Personnel Services, Materials and Services, Capital Outlay, and Interfund Revenue Transfer which were taken from the budget the Board had reviewed the previous Monday. If the Sheriff's levy passed, the Sheriff's budget appropriation would be increased by $681,000 the first year, and then the budget would be adopted. If it did not pass, the adopted budget would be in line with this appropriations resolution. SCHLANGEN: Move signature of Resolution 92-049 making Deschutes County budget appropriations. THROOP: Second the motion. VOTE: THROOP: YES SCHLANGEN: YES MAUDLIN: YES ORDER 92-066 CANCELING UNCOLLECTIBLE PERSONAL PROPERTY TAXES Before the Board was signature of Order 92-066 canceling uncollectible personal property taxes in the amount of $65,805.23. THROOP: I'll move signature of Order 92-066. SCHLANGEN: Second. VOTE: THROOP: YES SCHLANGEN: YES MAUDLIN: YES ACCOUNTS PAYABLE VOUCHERS Before the Board was approval of Accounts Payable Vouchers in the amount of $150,542.16. SCHLANGEN: Move approval upon review. THROOP: Second the motion. PAGE 5 MINUTES: 6-29-92 5. 6. 7. 0118-1218 VOTE: THROOP: YES SCHLANGEN: YES MAUDLIN: YES TAX REFUND ORDER 92-067 Before the Board was signature of Order 92-067 refunding taxes in the amount of $286.44. SCHLANGEN: Move signature of Order 92-067. THROOP: Second the motion. VOTE: THROOP: YES SCHLANGEN: YES MAUDLIN: YES ORDER 92-068 DISTRIBUTING MONEY FROM LAND SALES FUND Before the Board was signature of Order 92-068 transferring and distributing money in the amount of $92,500 from the Land Sales Fund of which $19,002.92 would go to the Deschutes County General Funds for expenses incurred in the supervision and maintenance of lands, $62,123.52 would go to the taxing districts within the County in accordance with the formula established by statute, and $16,402.72 would go to pay off the Bancroft and Road Assessments on the tax foreclosed properties. SCHLANGEN: Move signature of Order 92-068. THROOP: Second the motion. VOTE: THROOP: YES SCHLANGEN: YES MAUDLIN: YES ORDINANCE 92-049 AMENDING PL -1 CONCERNING MEMBERSHIP ON THE PLANNING COMMISSION Before the Board was signature of Ordinance 92-049 amending Section 9, Limitation on Number of Terms, and adding a new Section 18, Limited Reappointments, to Ordinance No. PL -1. This would allow Ken Johnson to remain on the Planning Commission until the Farm Study was completed. Bruce White said on July 30, Ken Johnson would have completed two terms on the Planning Commission and under PL -1, he was not entitled to a reappointment. However since he was the Planning Commission's representative on the Farm Study Committee, it was important to keep him on the Commission at least until such time as the Planning Commission made a recommendation to the Board of County Commissioners on the new farm zones. The PAGE 6 MINUTES: 6-29-92 ordinance allowed for a limited reappointment k1§tr1?JP narrow circumstances for a maximum of six month. He recommended that when the Board reappointed Ken Johnson, he be appointed for a term not to exceed six months or whenever the Planning Commission recommended the farm study package to the Board, whichever came first. MAUDLIN: I would entertain a motion for Ordinance 92-049, first and second reading by title only. THROOP: I'll make the motion. SCHLANGEN: Second. VOTE: THROOP: YES SCHLANGEN: YES MAUDLIN: YES Chairman Maudlin performed the first and second readings of Ordinance 92-049. THROOP: Move adoption. SCHLANGEN: Second. VOTE: THROOP: YES SCHLANGEN: YES MAUDLIN: YES MAUDLIN: I would entertain a motion for appointment of Ken Johnson for a period not to exceed six months or until the farm study review is completed. SCHLANGEN: So moved. MAUDLIN: Second the motion. VOTE: THROOP: YES SCHLANGEN: YES MAUDLIN: YES DATED this /.9M day of , 1992, by the Board of Commissioners of Deschutes Co ty, re on. 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