Grant County commissioners weigh in on law enforcement levy

Published 6:15 am Wednesday, July 20, 2022

CANYON CITY — Grant County commissioners weighed in last week on the likelihood of putting a law enforcement bond measure on the ballot in the November general election.

Grant County Judge Scott Myers said he has spoken to the county’s legal counsel about drawing up a draft bond levy to submit to the County Clerk’s Office for the Nov. 8 ballot before the Aug. 19 deadline.

However, he said he still needs to talk to Grant County Sheriff Todd McKinley about what his office needs regarding law enforcement coverage.

In June, the Grant County Budget Committee voted to allocate roughly $700,000 in COVID-19 relief funding to the Grant County Sheriff’s Office to bring on two additional patrol deputies and a part-time clerical employee. But that one-time funding will expire after the 2024-25 fiscal year.

Since the John Day Police Department was shut down in October, enforcing the law within the city limits has fallen primarily to the Grant County Sheriff’s Office, which has just four patrol deputies covering the entire county, with help from the Oregon State Police. Sheriff Todd McKinley has repeatedly told both the John Day City Council and the County Court that he needs additional deputies to provide adequate coverage.

The John Day City Council offered to pay the county $300,000 a year to hire three deputies to provide law enforcement services in the city limits. But that proposal also called on the county to give the city $300,000 a year from its road fund to pay for street improvements to serve new housing developments in John Day, on the theory that housing starts in the city would broaden the tax base for the entire county.

While the County Court never formally deliberated on the city’s proposal, court members have made it clear that the idea of linking county road fund money to police services is a nonstarter.

Grant County’s draft budget included a $300,000 contribution from John Day, but the city and county still have not come to an agreement on law enforcement funding.

County Commissioner Sam Palmer, who met informally with McKinley and elected city officials, said the talks ended after City Manager Nick Green shouted him down during a John Day City Council meeting in March. One way or the other, McKinley said, the Sheriff’s Office needs more staff. Myers said he planned to discuss the possibility of drawing up a law enforcement levy with the sheriff.

While Myers and County Commissioner Sam Palmer are for putting a bond levy out to the public, County Commissioner Jim Hamsher is not.

Hamsher said most of the policing issues happening within the county happen within incorporated communities and it is their responsibility to pay for law enforcement themselves. Prairie City, for instance, previously paid the sheriff’s office directly for extra patrols.

Myers said the false impression that many have is that the shutdown of the John Day Police Department is the only reason the county is considering a law enforcement levy.

He pointed out that it has always been the county’s responsibility to provide funding for the jail and the sheriff’s office, and that the sheriff’s office was in need of more funding even before the department shut down. Law enforcement, he said, will always be a necessary drain on the county budget.

Palmer concurred.

“Public safety,” he said, “will never make money.”