Lane County Commissioners have dropped plans to place a public safety levy on the May 17th ballot. The proposal would have funded more sheriff patrols in the rural communities west of Eugene.
The board heard from the public at a meeting Tuesday evening in Elmira. Commissioner Faye Stewart says most of the people who spoke felt the proposed tax was too high and that increased policing wasn’t needed.
Stewart: “So we heard, I think, some pretty strong concerns about the proposal and just didn’t feel there was enough support to move it forward to the voters.”
A citizens group had been pushing for the levy to fund a special police district to help fight what they describe as a big crime problem in the area. The $1.67 per $1000 assessed value property tax would have put 10 more sheriff’s deputies on patrol in the area around Fern Ridge Lake and a resource officer for the Elmira and Veneta school districts.
