Public Safety Fee

Origin of Public Safety Fee

Of the many services that the City of Veneta provides its citizens through property taxes, public safety services are the one most likely to come to mind. However, city property taxes also pay for parks, city administration, community planning, and construction debt. Public safety services receive the lion’s share of city property taxes, currently capped at 50% of the City's annual property tax income. Before 2021, when the public safety fee was established, public safety services generally fluctuated between 52% and 59% of overall property tax income. As costs for officers and equipment continued to rise, public safety services continually commanded more and more property taxes year after year, while other city services continued to receive less property tax support.

To address this issue, in 2009, the City started directing all of its internet franchise fee revenues into the police services budget, as well as using money from the Law Enforcement Fund’s Ending Fund Balance—the emergency reserve.

In 2015, the City started directing Zumwalt Campground fees to the public safety services budget. Additionally, the emergency reserve had declined to $110,000 below the City’s ending fund balance reserve policy to maintain four months of operating expenses plus $100,000.

Over the subsequent two years, the City directed two more revenue streams to the public safety services budget: City marijuana sales taxes in 2016, and State marijuana sales taxes in 2017. This helped to stabilize the eroding emergency reserve. Meanwhile, internet franchise fee revenues dropped by half from over $50,000 to roughly $25,000. At that time, the Law Enforcement Fund’s emergency reserve was $197,000 below what it should be to meet the City’s reserves policy—nearly double the deficit from six years prior. 

Establishing a Public Safety Fee

The City’s public safety services funding strategy was not sustainable in the face of diminishing fee revenue and the consistent use of emergency reserves. A more stable funding source was needed to stabilize public safety service funding for the future. On July 12, 2021, Veneta City Council passed Ordinance 562, establishing a public safety fee to be reviewed annually as part of the City's budget process. Council then passed Resolution No. 1334 on September 13, 2021, establishing the rate of $4.00 per month to become effective on January 2022's City utility billing statements. The City's policy was to cap the percentage of property taxes going towards public safety services to 50%, and to use the public safety fee to cover the gap left in funding to allow property taxes to support additional city services. 

Amending the Public Safety Fee

Amending the Lane County Sheriff's Office's Contract

In September of 2024, Veneta City Council received multiple complaints regarding commercial theft within City limits. Prior to these concerns, Veneta's elected officials had continually expressed a desire to increase the half-time sergeant position to a full-time position. However, city revenues and Lane County Sheriff's Office (LCSO) didn't have the capacity to reasonably provide a full-time sergeant position. Both of these obstacles were no longer insurmountable when this issue was addressed by the City Council in the Fall of 2024. 

In October 2024, City Council asked staff to amend the current LCSO contract to increase the sergeant hours from half-time (1,040 hours) to full-time (2,080 hours). This amendment increased the City's contract with LCSO by $66,481 beginning January 1, 2025. 

During the annual review of the fee in February 2025, Staff reported to City Council that an $11.00/month Public Safety Fee would cover the anticipated funding gap resulting from increasing the sergeant position to full-time. Over the following months, Council studied and discussed different options for closing the funding gap and mitigate the pressure to increase the public safety fee. 

Current Rate Adjustment

On May 12, 2025, the Council elected to adjust the fee by $3.00, from $6.00 to $9.00 per month, to maintain public safety services at 50% of property tax revenue and keep up with the increased costs. City Council also directed staff to use reserves to bridge the remaining funding gap that the cost increase would not cover. Council remained concerned that a significant increase to residents' utility bills would be more prohibitive than beneficial, and expressed that if property tax revenue continues to increase with new construction in Veneta, the funding gap could diminish and be covered in the coming years.

View all the rates included on your monthly utility bill.