GOLD BEACH – Curry County commissioners are anxiously awaiting a report from the their Citizens’ Committee to see what recommendations will be made to help the county out of its economic crisis.

The 23-member committee put together a list of more than 20 recommendations on Friday, including proposals to merge Brookings’ and the county’s 911 systems, raising property taxes, imposing a countywide sales tax and a city-county combination of law enforcement. A five-member subgroup of that committee is to polish the recommended list and present it to the Board of Commissioners on Feb. 1.

“When they present that list to us, we’re going to have to dig in to see what makes the most sense,” Commissioner Bill Waddle said Tuesday. “We’ll have to look at everything from a legal point of view.”

Waddle said the commissioners will have to look at those recommendations and check them with Oregon statutes.

“I’m looking forward to see what suggestions can be legally done,” Waddle said.

He said the commissioners are already looking at things to reduce the size of county government, including turning both Health and Human Services departments over to nonprofit private groups.

“We have one or more (non-profits) looking at one or both,” Waddle said.

He said if they must, commissioners would give those functions back to the state.

“But we want to keep them here,” Waddle said.

“Pennies for Pooches want to take over the animal shelter. We’re working with them,” Waddle said.

A discussion on the future of the animal shelter is one of the items on the agenda for today’s Board of Commissioners meeting.

In making recommendations for several possible taxes to help the county out of its crisis, committee members overwhelmingly recommended Friday that any tax vote not be taken in the May primary election but delayed until the November General Election.

Most felt May would be too soon to get information out to the voters.

Waddle said that could cause problems, especially with a property tax levy, because any increase could not be collected until November 2013.

He said an increase approved in May, or even one in a special election as late as September, could be included in the taxes billed for November.

But he noted a special September election would be expensive and any measure would require a double-double to pass – more than a 50 percent voter turnout and more than a 50 percent favorable vote.

Oregon Consensus at Portland State University helped to organize the Citizens’ Committee, with Michael Mills moderating their meetings which began On Nov. 30. The committee was divided into three subcommittees, with each polishing their recommendations last week, then bringing them to the full committee for votes on Friday afternoon.

Brookings City Manager Gary Milliman headed the group charged with revenue recommendations.

“We received over 30 suggestions. We have come up with nine we are pushing here,” he said.

Those recommendations included a county transit lodging tax, a law enforcement property tax and a sales tax.

The countywide sales tax proposal would exclude food and pharmacy.

“One cent countywide would raise $2.25 million,” Milliman said. “That could solve our problem.”

That group proposed two versions of a law enforcement property tax, one a taxing district similar to one proposed by consultants two years ago, and another a five-year levy.

The full committee did not like either one but finally endorsed the five-year levy, with possibly different tax levels for the cities, which already have taxes for their police departments, and a higher rate for non-city residents who depend on the sheriff’s department.

“The county pays 40 cents, the cities $2.40 for police. Until this is resolved, I won’t vote for it,” one committee member said.

The group also proposed a local option general property tax, limited to the $1.40 per $1,000 valuation for the county’s general fund, an amount that officials said is the minimum needed to maintain minimum services. That rate is now 60 cents per thousand.

“I’d like to see us do one or the other,” Christine Stallard said. “If you go for law enforcement, I wouldn’t go to the property tax. We wouldn’t want to see this on top of the other.”

“My suggestion would be a small increase in the property tax and a sales tax,” Dominic Petrucelli said.

Milliman said the county currently does not have a transient lodging tax, which would affect motels and RV parks outside the cities. The cities all have a 6 percent tax.

He noted that there is a required 70 percent, 30 percent tax split with the transient tax with the larger portion going toward tourism.

“But there is a flexibility,” Milliman said. “Buildings used for tourism, those funds can be used out of that facility. The sheriff says 40 percent of his calls are up the rivers. Typically tourists are generating those calls.”

Milliman’s group also suggested there is more room for revenue from the county-owned Brookings Airport.

Both a group headed by Stallard and one by Sam Scaffo suggested that the county’s and Brookings’ 911 and dispatch centers be merged, eliminating the 24-hour staffing requirements for both.

Milliman said that is now being discussed.

“We wouldn’t have two. It’s redundant,” he said.

Stallard’s group also suggested that officials consider city-county combination for law enforcement as a long-term project.

“It could include city, county, state and federal law enforcement,” she said.

Another suggestion that group had was to change county government to include a county administrator to manage the day-to-day business, leaving three commissioners to make policy and long-term planning. That may or may not include making Curry County a charter county.

Scaffo’s group pushed for delaying any ballot measure until November.

“This will give time for the Budget Committee to prepare a budget,” he said. “We believe failure in May would equal failure in November.”

Other recommendations from that group included zero-based budgeting, a detailed salary and benefit review and preparing a 2012-13 budget with no tax increase. 

“We felt if we put something on a ballot, it should not be until people feel the impact of those cuts,” Leroy Blodgett said.