GOLD BEACH – Curry County Assessor Jim Kolen has called a meeting of county elected officials for this afternoon (Nov. 2) asking for their opinions on what those officials can do to help the county out of its budget crisis.

“I called the meeting to discuss what we can do to help, what do we need to know,” Kolen said Tuesday.

County Accountant Gary Short has already told officials they may need to cut $2 million out of next year’s budget.

Kolen noted that county commissioners will be naming a Citizens’ Committee to come up with ideas to fund the county once federal funding ends this month.

“I expect there will be a tax measure put before the voters,” Kolen said.

Property tax levies have failed in the past.

“The last couple of times, Curry County hasn’t done a really good job of explaining it,” Kolen said. 

“We’re dealing with O&C funds, crying wolf when every time at the last minute, the federal government has come through,” he said.

Kolen said that’s unlikely to happen this year. And if it does, it won’t be enough.

“I really think we need to do a very good job determining what the message is going to be and determining what we are going to do about providing help to the Citizens’ Committee in any way we can,” he said.

Kolen said officials must do a better job explaining to voters what the tax increase would do.

“We talk about $1.40 or $1.50 per $1,000 of assessed value for the county. It’s now at 60 cents,” Kolen said. 

But he said the voters don’t understand the increase would be only for the county’s general fund, which is a small part of the total property tax. The other taxes would not increase.

“It’s certainly not the whole tax bill,” he said.

“I don’t think the people of Curry County want something for nothing,” Kolen said. 

He said county officials need to do a better job of explaining.

“I would hope if we are facing this situation we talk of the county as a whole – not just law enforcement, but the current minimum level of county services,” Kolen said.

“Most departments are cut way back from where we were five, six, seven years ago,” he said. “Between tax and assessment, I have 40 percent fewer employees than those departments had in 2006. If I had to lose one more employee, the wheels would just about come off the track and we could not provide the services.”

Kolen said he wanted to talk to the other elected officials so they could bounce thoughts off each other.

That meeting, which is open to the public, is scheduled for 1 p.m. in the commissioners hearing room at the county annex building.