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Municipal Elections
May 21, 2024 Primary Election
Notice of Proposed Ballot Title
Notice is hereby given that the City Council of the City of St. Helens is referring to the voters, for approval at the May 21, 2024 Primary Election, a measure requesting to impose a city tax for police protection services staff funding.
The City Council has approved the following ballot title for consideration by the voters in the May 21, 2024 Election:
Caption: (10 words)
Creation of Police Protection Services Staff Funding Local Option Tax
Question: (20 words)
Shall City assess five-year operating levy for police at rate of $0.69 per $1,000 assessed value beginning 2024-2025? This measure may cause property taxes to increase more than three percent.
Summary: (175 words)
The City’s current tax revenues cannot support quantity of officers needed to protect and serve our city.
The City will use the levy to create an Enhanced Law Enforcement Operating Fund. This will be used exclusively for increasing law enforcement presence throughout St. Helens and increasing police officer presence within the city. This fund would add four additional officers, necessary equipment, necessary training, and enable the police to continue to provide 24/7 law enforcement coverage in St. Helens as well as reduce response times.
In order to provide these basic services, the City is requesting a new five-year levy at a rate of $0.69 per $1,000 assessed property value. The City will use the tax revenue from this measure to fund additional police officers.
The levy will raise approximately $802,007 in 2024-25; $834,087 in 2025-26; $867,451 in 2026-27; $902,149 in 2027-28; and $938,235 in 2028-29. The levy would then expire.
For a home assessed value of $200,000 the annual cost of this levy would be an estimated $138 per year.
The estimated tax cost for this measure is an ESTIMATE ONLY based on the best information available from the County Assessor at the time of the estimate and may reflect the impact of early payment discounts, compression, and the collection rate.
Any elector may file a petition for review of the ballot title with the Columbia County Circuit Court within seven (7) business days of the day the ballot title is filed with the City Elections Official. Such petition must be filed no later than 5:00 p.m. on Friday, February 9, 2024.
Kathy Payne
City Elections Official
Publish: February 7, 2024
Posted to website: February 1, 2024
