COLUMBIA CITY, Columbia City has paid for its police department with a voter-approved levy since 2011. The one on the Nov. 3 ballot, Measure 5-313, would more than double the rate: from the current 90 cents per $1,000 of assessed value to $1.95, for five years starting in 2027-28.
Nobody filed an argument for or against it. Here is what the measure says, from the county voters’ pamphlet.
What It Does
The levy replaces the 2021 police levy, which expires after the 2026-27 tax year. All of the money goes to the police department for personnel, equipment and daily operations, according to the explanatory statement submitted by City Administrator and Recorder Kim Karber. The city estimates it would raise $450,861 in the first year and $2,393,682 over five years.
If it fails, the ballot summary says, “the City will be required to reduce police services.” The explanatory statement adds that the current levy is being propped up with money diverted from the city’s general fund, which it calls unsustainable, and that without the new levy the city would have to cut police protection or other city services.
What It Costs
At $1.95 per $1,000, a home assessed at $300,000 would pay $585 a year, about $1.60 a day, per the pamphlet. That is $315 a year more than the same home pays under the expiring 90-cent levy. Assessed value is the figure on your county tax statement, not what the house would sell for.
The ballot title carries the standard warning that the measure may cause property taxes to increase more than 3 percent.
Why a Levy at All
Columbia City’s permanent property tax rate is $1.1346 per $1,000, which the city says is one of the lowest in Oregon and the lowest in Columbia County except for Prescott, population 84. The city describes itself as a bedroom community with little taxable commercial or industrial property, so most city revenue comes from homeowners.
In 2010 the City Council decided the permanent rate could not fund a staffed police department. Voters approved a 67-cent levy in 2011, renewed it in 2016, and raised it to 90 cents in 2021. The explanatory statement says residents “have reliably supported local law enforcement through local option levies for fifteen years.”
What Happens Next
Ballots were mailed Oct. 14 and are due Nov. 3. If the measure passes, the $1.95 rate appears on tax statements starting in fall 2027, when the 90-cent levy ends. If it fails, the city has not said in the pamphlet how many officers or hours it would cut.
Columbia City voters are also electing a mayor and two councilors; see the Tribune’s ballot guide. St. Helens voters face their own police levy, Measure 5-312, at $1.46 per $1,000.