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The Black Butte Ranch County Service District could suffer a loss of $163,000,
about 46 percent of the budget for its six-officer police department, under
Measure 47 according to figures released by Deschutes County.
County Administrator Mike Maier has recommended that Black Butte Police
officers become deputies and that Black Butte contract with the sheriff's
office for police protection.
The service district has decided to wait on further developments surrounding
the controversial Measure 47.
Deschutes County is the governing body of the Service District, although
day-to-day operations are governed by a management board of directors made up
of Black Butte Ranch residents.
Maier and Sheriff-elect Greg Brown met with Bill Handy, who chairs the managing
board, and two other board members on December 3 to look at options, which
Maier summarized in a letter to Handy on December 6, prior to the service
district board meeting on December 7.
A three-year serial levy could be submitted to the voters in the BBR service
district in May or September, 1997. Such a levy "should be sufficient to
replace the funds lost because of Ballot Measure 47 and future cost increases
including but not limited to possible union related expenses," Maier wrote.
Black Butte Police are in the process of unionizing.
However, "...such a levy may be challenged by (Bill) Sizemore," who authored
Ballot Measure 47, Maier wrote.
A second option would be to replace the lost property taxes by increasing the
revenue received from the BBR Corporation and BBR Association.
"This option may be in violation of Ballot Measure 47 because it replaces lost
property taxes with an increase in fees," Maier wrote.
The third option would be fore Black Butte County Service District to "enter
into a contract with the Sheriff's office for law enforcement services."
Sheriff-elect Brown said that under this plan, Black Butte Police officers
would essentially become deputies and Black Butte would continue to receive the
same level of enforcement.
To pay for the continued level of service, Black Butte Ranch residents would
pay the higher of a "split rate" in the sheriff's operating levy which would
raise an additional $158,000.
This may also save costs related to unionization, since sheriff's deputies
already have their own association, Brown said.
The fourth option Maier suggested would be for Black Butte to "accept the
limitations imposed by Ballot Measure 47 and make necessary cuts in operating
costs."
Maier wrote that it "is my recommendation that serious review and consideration
be given to the option of contracting with the Sheriff's Department."
Chair Handy said that the service district board feels that there is still too
much uncertainty surrounding the effects of Ballot Measure 47 to make a
decision.
"Nobody know what will happen, if Measure 47 will go into effect or be held up
in the courts, and if it goes into effect, which year they will be using (to
calculate tax revenues)," Handy said.
"We (the BBR Service District Board) talked about the options an decided to
wait on further developments, both legal and political," Handy concluded.
