Fire and Police Levy

Caption

Five-year operating levy, retain and hire firefighters and police officers.

Question

Shall Gresham improve fire, police, and public safety responsiveness with a five-year levy, $1.35/$1,000 assessed value, beginning July 1, 2024? This measure may cause property taxes to increase more than three percent.

Summary

Gresham’s population has grown 19% over the past twenty years, while daily minimum firefighter staffing only increased 9%. Gresham has one less sworn police officer than twenty years ago.

Over the same time, calls for fire service have increased 69% and shootings in Gresham have spiked 400% in recent years. The combination of rising need and fewer personnel means slower emergency response times and fewer patrol officers to prevent crimes.

This levy will retain existing positions, fund 13 new firefighters and 9 new police officers. By law, the levy can only be used for police and fire services.

The current $15 per month Police, Fire and Parks fee only funds 9% of public safety services and is not enough to meet the growing demand for services. A dedicated levy will enhance fire and police protection and responsiveness. The levy will not replace the existing fee.

The average cost of the levy on a Gresham home would be $25.65 per month (based on an average assessed, not market, value of $228,000), beginning July 1, 2024.

Estimated revenue:

• $12,100,000 in 2024/25
• $12,450,000 in 2025/26
• $12,800,000 in 2026/27
• $13,200,000 in 2027/28
• $13,600,000 in 2028/29

Five-year total: $64,150,000

To meet the growing need and demand for additional fire and police services and to better serve and protect all Gresham residents, the City Council is asking voters to support a dedicated five-year levy to fund 13 new firefighters and 9 new police officers. If passed, voters will decide in five years whether or not to renew it.

Why is a levy needed and how will it be spent?

More people need more first responders. The number of firefighters and police officers has not kept pace with city population growth. Gresham’s population has grown 19% over the past twenty years, while daily minimum firefighter staffing has only increased 9%. Gresham has one less sworn police officer than twenty years ago.

A dedicated levy will result in more firefighters and police officers to better serve and protect all Gresham residents.

In an emergency, every second counts. Increasing calls for emergency and often life-saving fire and police services combined with too few first responders, means slower response times.

This levy retains an average of 30 public safety positions per year and funds 13 more firefighter positions and 9 more police officer positions, leading to quicker response times and a safer community. By law, the levy can only be used for police and fire services.

More safety for seniors, children, and neighborhoods. 20% of Gresham residents are age 60 and over and 23% are age 18 or under. The city is home to 28 senior living communities, 138 adult foster care homes, and 3 school districts serving more than 30,000 children.

A dedicated levy will mean more neighborhood patrols to prevent, engage, and investigate drug related crimes and property and violent crimes that threaten community safety.

The current public safety fee is essential but not enough. The $15 per month Police, Fire, and Parks fee paid on utility bills funds just 9% of existing public safety services. The fee is not enough to meet the growing need for additional firefighters and police officers to enhance public safety.

A dedicated levy will allow more neighborhood patrols to prevent and investigate drug related crimes, property crimes and gun violence.

An independent taxpayer committee will ensure oversight, accountability, and annual audits. Levy revenue will be placed in a dedicated and protected account overseen by a 7-member committee of Gresham residents. The committee will make annual reports to the City Council and levy spending will be audited each year. The levy will raise an estimated $64 million over five years ($12 to $14 million each year).

If passed, the measure would authorize a five-year levy, which would provide tax revenue to fund existing fire and police personnel and hire more firefighters and police officers to provide services for the growing population and the growing demand for emergency first responders. 

The measure would cost $1.35 per $1,000 of assessed property value. The owner of a home assessed at $200,000 would pay about $25.65 per month or about $308 per year.

Over the past 20 years, Gresham’s population has increased by 19%, but today the city has one less sworn police officer than in 2004, while in recent years shootings in Gresham have increased by more than 400%.

And over the past 30 years, Gresham’s population has increased by 46% while the daily minimum staffing for the Gresham Fire Department has remained the same as it was in 1994.  

If the measure passes, a five-year levy would authorize new tax revenue, which would fund fire and police positions. The levy would help retain existing fire and police positions and would fund 13 new firefighters and 9 new police officers in Gresham. 

Hiring more firefighters and police officers would mitigate emergency response times and fund more neighborhood patrols and enhance public safety.

Gresham voters considered a similar Measure in 2023 (proposed $1.50 per $1000 of assessed property value) but the measure did not pass.  Gresham has since studied voter attitudes toward funding fire and police services.  More than 230 city residents participated in an online questionnaire and a community town hall providing feedback. In addition, the city hired a local independent research firm - DHM Research - to conduct focus groups and a scientific poll of 400 city voters to better understand community issues and concerns.  

Gresham took this information into consideration when drafting the proposed May 2024 measure.  If passed, the measure would cost $1.35 per $1000 of assessed property value and focus the levy exclusively on retaining and adding more firefighters and police officers to address public safety concerns.  

More Gresham Police Officers

The five-year levy would fund 9 new sworn police officers – a 7% increase over existing sworn officer positions. Overall, the levy would fund a 17.5% increase in total Gresham police personnel to enhance public safety. More sworn officers serving the community would mitigate response times and allow for dedicated detectives to investigate all types of crimes. With more officers, GPD could restore specialty police units, including Neighborhood Enforcement Team, Traffic Enforcement Team, and other specialty that both prevent and investigate crime.

More Gresham Firefighters

The five-year levy would fund 13 new firefighters to improve emergency response times and would provide an additional rescue truck to Gresham’s busiest fire station. The levy would add two additional Fire Marshals to conduct school inspections, business inspections, support arson investigations, and provide school education. 

Beginning July 1, 2024, the five-year levy would cost each property owner $1.35 per each $1,000 of assessed property value.  The average home in Gresham has an assessed value (not real market value) of $228,000. The levy would cost the average homeowner in Gresham $25.65 a month or about $308 per year.

Levy revenue would be placed in a dedicated and protected account overseen by a 7-member committee of Gresham residents. The committee would make annual reports to the City Council and levy spending would be audited each year. The levy would raise an estimated $64 million over five years ($12 to $14 million each year).

An amount that, if passed by voters, would be collected through a property tax charged to each property owner (residential and commercial) within the city of Gresham’s boundary. The levy would require a simple majority vote of 50% + 1 to pass.

Property owners in Gresham pay for the levy. The cost is added to their property tax bills, and the amount each owner pays varies based on the assessed value of their property, not the real market value. The tax would not be paid by anyone who is not a property owner.

While Gresham is home to a few tax-exempt multifamily housing complexes, for all other multifamily properties, the cost of the levy would be passed along to the property owner. Landlords would determine whether or not to extend additional fees to their tenants.

When a person buys or sells a home, the price paid is the “real market value.”  If not readily ascertainable, real market value can be estimated by a real estate agent or via public websites like Zillow.

However, the levy is not based on the real market value of a home. It is based on the “assessed value” of the home. Due to Ballot Measure 50, enacted by voters statewide in 1997, the assessed value is based on its real market value in 1995, minus 10%, plus 3% a year.  As a result, the assessed value is typically much less than the real market value.

You can find the assessed value of a property on Multnomah County Property Records. Choose “continue as a guest” to use this service for free.

No. The levy would be in addition to the Police, Fire and Parks Fee. The $15 per month fee paid on utility bills funds 9% of existing public safety services. Of the total fees paid, 95% is spent on public safety and 5% on parks. The fee is not enough to fund additional firefighters and police officers.

The City of Gresham currently has a shortfall of almost $19 million for its 24/25 fiscal year general fund budget that the City Council must close when it adopts a balanced budget in June.

The shortfall stems from many economic factors, including increased demand for services and population growth, rising costs driven by inflation that impact the City the same as individuals and families, and the volatility of city business income tax. In recent years, City revenues have increased about 3% each year while expenses have increased by about 6% per year. This is for current service levels without new positions.

A levy is a tool that the City Council is proposing to provide funding for fire and police services.

For context, for the fiscal year 2023/24, the City of Gresham General Fund revenue is approximately $92.7 million for a population of about 114,000 (2021) while the City of Hillsboro's General Fund revenue is approximately $164.3 million for a population of 107,000 (2021).

Gresham is the fourth largest city in Oregon but Hillsboro, the fifth largest city, has a 56% larger budget (based on 2023/24 budgets). Historically, Gresham has taken a conservative approach to budgeting and spending. In the past three years, the city eliminated 30 positions, including several high-level management jobs, and cut $8.7 million in expenses from its adopted budget. Most recently, they cut three positions and didn’t fill five open positions to realize cost savings. The city has carefully used federal (ARPA) funds and increased the monthly Police, Fire and Parks fee to avoid making cuts to public safety.

In addition to controlling costs and pursuing a levy, the city is pursuing federal, state and county grants to bring tax dollars back to Gresham. In the past year, the city has secured more than $30 million in grants for various programs and projects, including park upgrades, transportation improvements and youth violence prevention programming.

If the measure passes, it would fund new fire and police personnel to help address homeless services. As for new funding and resources, Gresham is actively pursuing funding from Multnomah County from the existing regional homeless services tax. This year, the county government has more than $250 million available to spend on homeless services. In addition, city government is seeking state and federal funds and Metro to address homelessness.

The election is on Tuesday, May 21. Ballots will be mailed to voters starting May 1; postmark by May 21 or turn in by 8:00 pm on May 21.

Multnomah County Elections official ballot drop sites.

You may register to vote, check your registration, or update your registration on the Oregon Secretary of State’s website.

The deadline to register or update your registration is April 30.