Tuesday, Lane County voters approved a property tax levy for Oregon State University Extension by 70 percent.
OSU Extension offers youth 4H, master gardening, food preservation, farming and forestry programs. OSU Regional Administrator John Punches says the service has been struggling since Lane County stopped funding it in 2010.
“We’ve been in a very reduced mode almost working with a skeleton crew and so now we will have the resources to be able to be able to really provide the types of programs and services that Lane County residents have asked us to provide.”
The levy is expected to raise more than 400 thousand dollars in its first year. That local contribution triggers 75 thousand state and federal dollars. Punches says the money will help OSU Extension serve more people because it can reduce fees for programs.
