Sheriff seeks new funding base

Deschutes County Sheriff Greg Brown aims to change the way the sheriff's office is funded in this November's election.

Brown, sheriff for the past 3-1/2 years, attended the Sisters City Council meeting, Thursday, May 11, to ask for support in bringing Sisters into a proposed Deschutes Law Enforcement District.

County law enforcement has been funded primarily through serial tax levies for the past 20 years. The sheriff's current three-year levy expires this year.

According to Brown, chronic funding uncertainty because of reliance on election results has lowered department morale, hurt recruitment and retention, and potentially endangers the public.

Brown said that after the 1997 public safety levy failed, a crisis was narrowly avoided.

"We were close to having to kick out 100 prisoners... and leave citizens with no officers on patrol," Brown said.

Brown also points out that his efforts in ensuring the passage of the levies take valuable time away from his supervisory duties.

Brown's proposal would permanently set tax rates at $1.12 per $1,000 of property value.

The $1.12 represents a two-tiered tax, with $.78 allocated to mandated services such as jail, social service assistance, the serving of court summons, emergency response, and search and rescue. For county residents outside Sisters, the remaining $.34 is dedicated to uniformed officer patrols.

The system works differently for City of Sisters residents.

The City of Sisters is budgeted to pay $227,000 next year to the county sheriff's department in a contract for law enforcement services, according to city administrator Barbara Warren. The contract pays for three deputies, including Sergeant Rich Shawver, to patrol the city 120 hours per month.

The contract calls for extra patrol hours within the city limits of Sisters. The contract would remain unaffected by the change to a tax district, Warren said.

City residents would pay the $.78 tax, but not the $.34, since patrol services are covered under the contract. Warren acknowledged that city residents pay "considerably more" than $.34 per $1,000 in exchange for heavier patrols.

Future tax increases are rigidly controlled by the Measure 5 initiative, Brown emphasized.

Brown, who is standing for election again this November, says that before making the decision to place the issue before the voters, the sheriff's office contracted with the consulting firm of Moss Adams to evaluate the rate and structure of the tax.

"I didn't want this to become a political football," he explained.

The positive results of the study, he says, were readily accepted by county commissioners.

Brown, accompanied and supported at the meeting by County Commissioner Tom Dewolf, made it clear to the council that the proposal would not increase the tax burden for Sisters residents.

"Its only purpose is to guarantee the department a steady source of funding," he said.

The motion to join the district passed unanimously.