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Salem city councilors Monday voted overwhelmingly to look further into putting a property tax levy on the May 2025 ballot which would help pay for parks, the library, and Center 50+.
The vote passed 8-1, City Councilor Jose Gonzalez casting the sole dissenting vote.
“The biggest group of people that actually matter in this discussion are the voters…I just worry that nothing is going to pass,” Gonzalez said prior to the vote. “A lot of levies failed. Chemeketa failed by a large margin. Woodburn has always wanted a community center. Thiers failed. It is really surprising. Going forward, I don’t see Salem residents accepting this. And that is the only reason, I just don’t want to set up the next council for failure.”
Gonzalez said there is still a lot of work ahead to rebuild community trust after the city council’s failed bid to pass a payroll tax in Salem last year.
“People felt really offended,” Gonzalez said. “People felt like we were against them. Against the working class people.”
While the council voted to advance the levy discussion, councilors still have to vote at a later meeting on whether to put the tax increase on the ballot. A campaign for a levy would cost the city roughly $300,000, according to a staff report from the city’s Chief Financial Officer Josh Eggleston.
The levy would provide the city additional money from property taxes for five years. Voters could then decide to renew it.
Councilor Deanna Gwyn voted in favor, but said she was concerned about the price tag on something that might not pass with voters.
“I hate to see us spending $300,000 just to test the waters,” Gwyn said.
Julie Hoy, who will be the city’s mayor come January, said she agreed with Gonzalez but also felt hopeful about the prospects of a possible levy.
“I hear you on that and that bothered me more than anything with the payroll tax. To know that we had been told it would fail if it went to the voters and we went ahead and spent that money. So, I hear you,” Hoy said. “I don’t want that to happen either. I think the thing that makes this a little bit hopeful to me is knowing the passion of the people who are in these programs. And that they can turn that passion into power and get out there and maybe we can make it happen. So, I feel hopeful that way.”
The vote comes after Salem voters indicated they won’t pay more in property taxes to avoid deep cuts to the city’s library, parks and emergency services.
In October, a city poll found that though the majority of voters reject all levy options, they’d slightly prefer a public safety levy which would maintain existing police and fire services and add new positions.
The city continues grappling with a nearly $18 million gap between revenues and expenses as it works to balance its budget for the next fiscal year. The process is likely to result in painful cuts to many city services including police and firefighters if new revenue is not secured.
Councilor Virginia Stapelton reminded the council prior to the vote that levies are not the most sustainable long-term option for funding because they must be renewed by voters. She said she voted in favor in order to give the community members who hope to secure funding for the library, parks and Center 50+ a chance to make their voices heard.
“We’ve tried other ideas and that was rejected by the public and now we have this idea. And I struggle with spending the money, even the little bit of money that it is compared to the vast budget that we have. But I really look at the folks in this room, the folks who emailed us, and they want an opportunity to try,” Stapleton said. “Who am I to say you can’t even try?”
Mayor Chris Hoy, whose term ends in January, had a message for the council leading up to the vote.
“I will just say to my colleagues who are struggling with this decision. If you think this conversation or decision is hard. Just wait. If it is not successful or the next council decides not to send it out. Wait until you have to decide to close the library. Or Center 50+,” Hoy said. “You want to talk about hard? That’s hard. I hope we don’t go there. I hope we don’t get there. But that is the next decision if this doesn’t work. So, everybody needs to get behind making it work.”
The council will continue the discussion on possible rates property owners would be asked to pay in January. Depending on the rate selected, a typical homeowner would pay between $129 and $246 per year more in property taxes, Eggleston said. That’s for a home with an assessed value of $235,000.
According to Eggleston, to keep the city’s parks, library and Center 50+ running in 2026 would cost roughly $15 million dollars. The figure includes expanding library services following cuts in early 2024.
That cost gradually increases over the next five years reaching about $18 million in 2030.
Contact reporter Joe Siess: [email protected] or 503-335-7790.
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Joe Siess is a reporter for Salem Reporter. Joe joined Salem Reporter in 2024 and primarily covers city and county government but loves surprises. Joe previously reported for the Redmond Spokesman, the Bulletin in Bend, Klamath Falls Herald and News and the Malheur Enterprise. He was born in Independence, MO, where the Oregon Trail officially starts, and grew up in the Kansas City area.
