News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
The City of Sisters is asking voters to stem the tide of a serious budget shortfall.
Mail-in ballots for the May 20 election list five measures that would raise some $115,996 in r
evenue for next year.
Ballot measure 9-45 proposes a three-year serial levy of $67,519 per year. Property owners would pay approximately $.81 per $1,000 of property value to fund the levy.
Measures 9-46 and 47 charge the city's water and garbage funds a 5 percent franchise fee which would cover the administrative costs of those departments. Those costs currently impact the general fund, which is the area of the budget facing a crisis.
The city proposes a hike in business license fees from $43 to $100 per year in Measure 9-48, and Measure 9-49 would hike the transient room tax from 7 to 8 percent.
Even if all of the measures pass, the city remains about $43,000 short of what department heads consider a "realistic" budget.
That shortfall threatens to put city maintainence and equipment purchases and repair on hold, and could mean the loss of two police officers' positions, cutting the force by 30 percent
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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