Opinion
Josephine County’s current Board of Commissioners, including Commissioner Colene Martin, owes residents a straightforward answer: What spending cuts have been considered before asking households to shoulder more costs?
Commissioners approved a 20% increase in Kerby Transfer Station fees and a surcharge for Southern Oregon Sanitation customers. These are service charges, not taxes but the money still comes from residents’ wallets.
November’s Measure 17-129 would renew the existing five-year levy at 93 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value. It would not increase that rate, but the funding shortfall for juvenile-detention services would remain unresolved. It has been widely reported that county discussions have included potential additional levy requests ranging from 30 to 40 cents per $1,000 for the District Attorney’s Office and juvenile justice due to the shortfall.
At a recent Republican Women’s Club forum, Martin suggested annexing urban-growth areas into cities. For affected property owners, annexation could mean higher property taxes through the addition of city taxes. The actual increase would depend on applicable rates and annexation terms, including any phase-in of city taxation.
In addition, Josephine County government continues to grow under the current BCC. Before pursuing additional revenue, commissioners should show residents the alternatives: spending reductions, clear service priorities and the full household cost of their proposals.
The lack of news coverage of BCC actions raises further questions about transparency and whether residents are getting the information they need.
Taxpayers deserve to know not just what they will pay, but what county government is doing to spend less.
Sources
- Illinois Valley News — Sanitation fee increases:
https://www.theivnews.com/2026/03/18/kerby-transfer-station-to-raise-rates-by-20/ - Illinois Valley News — Levy funding gap:
https://www.theivnews.com/2026/08/19/commissioners-seek-to-renew-jail-levy-at-same-rate-despite-funding-gap/ - Jefferson Public Radio — Ballot measure overview:
https://www.ijpr.org/elections/2026-10-09/election-2026-what-to-know-in-oregon - Oregon Legislature — Annexation and taxation, ORS 222.111:
https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors222.html - Oregon Legislature — City property-tax report:
https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2017R1/Downloads/CommitteeMeetingDocument/104674 - Republican Women’s Club — Forum video:
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1FTvpc6wwN/ - CitizenPortal — Referral of five-year jail and juvenile-detention levy renewal to the November ballot:
https://citizenportal.ai/articles/9568997/oregon/josephine-county/commissioners-refer-five-year-jail-and-juvenile-detention-tax-renewal-to-november-ballot - KOBI — Jail and juvenile-detention tax renewal on the November ballot:
https://kobi5.com/news/top-stories/josephine-co-jail-juvenile-detention-tax-renewal-on-nov-ballot-313291/ - CitizenPortal — Commissioners agree to pursue 93-cent jail levy renewal:
https://citizenportal.ai/articles/9569086/oregon/josephine-county/josephine-county-commissioners-agree-to-pursue-93-cent-renewal-for-jail-levy
