A Clackamas County measure that would raise property taxes to maintain sheriff’s office personnel and jail capacity is on track to fail, according to initial returns from election night.
As of Wednesday morning, 61% of voters had voted against the levy measure, and 39% voted for it. Results from the Oregon Secretary of State’s Office are preliminary and remain unofficial until certified in June.
On Wednesday, Clackamas County Sheriff Angela Brandenburg said the results were disappointing, but she understood the “real financial challenges” many residents are facing.
The property tax measure would have increased the current safety levy by 45% starting in 2027.
FILE - The Clackamas County public safety levy funds 36 jail deputies and 84 jail beds, along with other personnel and programs at the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office.
Conrad Wilson / OPB
The current levy has been in place since 2006 and funds 36 jail deputies, five Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office detectives, 84 jail beds, body cameras and internal affairs investigators meant to hold personnel accountable.
If the current trend holds and the levy fails, the county could try again in November’s election.
“The failure of the Public Safety Levy means the Clackamas County Board of County Commissioners will now face some very difficult decisions about the future of the Sheriff’s Office,” Brandenburg said in Wednesday’s statement. “Without this dedicated funding source, the level of Sheriff’s Office services our community has come to rely on will change significantly. Patrol staffing, jail operations, investigations, and other critical public safety services will all be impacted.”
Clackamas County has historically backed funding for the sheriff’s office.
Voters have renewed the levy three times since it initially passed in 2006. But the ask for an increase came as many Oregonians are feeling the effects of higher prices on everything from gasoline to groceries.
If Measure 3-633 had passed, it would have resulted in the levy rate rising from 36 cents per $1,000 in assessed home value to 59 cents per $1,000.
According to the county, it would have cost the average homeowner an additional $60 per year.
