Officials in Curry County are looking at alternative ways to maintain public safety services, now that voters have rejected a $10 million dollar public safety levy.
Two county commissioners appeared on OPB's Think Out Loud Monday. Chair David Brock Smith said Curry County will be able to maintain current service levels through the rest of the fiscal year. After that, he says, the county is looking at a shortfall of about $2 million.
Vice Chair Susan Brown says bridging that gap will require input from county officials as well as the public.
She says one option that's being explored is to divert money coming into other tax districts toward public safety.
"And talking with the county assessor, he said those can be legislative actions that could help us with that. So if we can't increase taxes how do we change the structure of our taxes maybe," she said.
The board, however, could still increase taxes by declaring a State of Emergency. That would bring in matching revenues from the state. Commission Chair David Brock Smith says the county has some time to explore other alternatives.
Copyright 2013 Oregon Public Broadcasting
