At a May 20 meeting of the Lane County Budget Committee, commissioners approved the largest reduction in full-time-equivalent positions in over a decade. The Fiscal Year 25-26 General Fund budget consisted of a $178,781,923 or 8.8% decrease from the FY 24-25 budget. 

Full-time-equivalent positions represent the total number of hours worked by employees, when those hours are converted to hours expected from a full time position. 

However, the committee did not advance a motion by Commissioner Laurie Trieger to reduce their individual $15,000 discretionary funds. 

Lane County commissioner discretionary funds are funds free from specific regulations that are available for distribution by the commissioner in question to any department or service they choose. 

The budget committee is composed of the five county commissioners and five non-voting committee citizen members.

Lane County Administrator Steve Mokrohisky said that while the issue of raising expenses and outpacing revenue growth affects governments across Oregon, Lane County is in a particularly poor position due to its “artificially low tax rate.”

Mokrohisky highlighted that in Lane County, the base tax rate on property per $1,000 of assessed value is $1.28. When factoring in additional county property levies, such as for schools and public safety, the tax rate increases to approximately $2. However, this is low compared to other Oregon counties of similar population and economic situations, Mokrohisky said.

Washington, Clackamas, Marion, Jackson and Deschutes counties all have effective tax rates, levies included, of $3.20 per $1,000 of assessed value. 

That means that Lane County’s tax rate is “37% lower than the average,” Mokrohisky said. 

Mokrohisky pointed out that the tax rate in Eugene is conversely 37% higher than that of other similarly sized cities.

“The average among the cities not including Eugene … is $5…The City of Eugene’s total…is $7.87. So there is a 2.87% difference greater between our largest cities and the others — interestingly, 37% higher,” Mokrohisky said.

According to the county’s calculations, Lane County has the third lowest tax rate of any Oregon county. This prevents the District Attorney’s office from having manageable caseloads, prevents the sheriff’s office from being able to provide adequate service to rural residents and prevents the county assessor’s office from hiring the staff needed to re-appraise properties. “We are not going to be able to fix the fundamental problem until we address the revenue side of the equation,” Mokrohisky said.

Following Mokrohisky’s presentation, Trieger introduced a proposal that would shrink each commissioners’ discretionary fund from $15,000 annually to $5,000 annually. Each of the five Lane County Commissioners possesses a discretionary fund that can be utilized for constituent services and additional staff.

Trieger said that the proposal was keeping in mind that commissioners generally don’t spend all the money allocated in their fund, as well as for the commission to demonstrate “some shared commitment to that pain” being brought about by the cuts.

Commissioner Ryan Ceniga said that while he appreciated Trieger’s thoughts on the topic, he has used part of his fund to help the Mapleton School District fix its potable water issues, and that the fund is particularly useful for those representing rural constituents. 

Commissioner David Loveall concurred with Ceniga, and proceeded to highlight how he spent his discretionary fund. 

Loveall said he invested approximately $2,000 in the Springfield block party, $1,500 to provide the Springfield High School Mariachi Band with new uniforms, he contributed “a couple thousand” to the Springfield Police Departments’ drone program and he contributed funding for the Kinkel Scholarship — helping students to bridge the gap in education funds.

“To me, I think these funds are a direct reflection about how the commissioner is involved not only in their district, but also understands the specific needs of their district,” Loveall said.

Commissioner Pat Farr expressed his position on maintaining the discretionary funds at their current level. Commissioner Heather Buch said she would “be fine with” reducing the fund to $5,000. She believes having the funds to provide administrative assistance to the commissioners would be “of greater impact to what we do, and what this was originally meant for.”

The commission did not bring the issue of discretionary funds to a vote, but did vote unanimously to approve the reductions in the FY 25-26 budget.

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