Mail Tribune News - Turnout may kill levies

Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)

2000-09-14

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Where to take ballots It's too late to mail ballots for today's election, but voters can drop off ballots at any of the following locations until 8 p.m.: Payment center and county clerk's office, county courthouse, 10 S. Oakdale, Medford. The payment center is open 24 hours, the clerk's office from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Ashland Library, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., 410 Siskiyou Blvd. Eagle Point Library, 10 to 8 p.m., 158 W. Main St. Rogue River Library, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., 412 E. Main St. Turnout may kill levies Ballots due today Voters would have to flood the county clerk's office with ballots today for two money measures to have a shot at winning. Ballots in the mail election must be turned in by 8 p.m. Rogue Valley Transportation District is asking voters for a $1.25 million operating levy, and Rogue River Fire District wants to pass a $1.1 million levy. Both fall under an Oregon law that requires at least 50 percent of registered voters to cast ballots for a money measure to pass. But elections officials say they have received only 22,915 ballots from RVTD voters. They account for about 31 percent of the district's 73,886 registered voters. Another 14,028 would have to vote to reach the 50 percent mark. In the Rogue River district, 1,602 voters had cast ballots for a 35 percent turnout. Another 682 would bring the 4,568-voter district to 50 percent. "I'm praying," said Sherron Coleman, RVTD general manager. She said members of the Transportation for Liveable Communities spent Monday night calling registered voters who had not sent in ballots. The five-year RVTD operating levy would cost the owner of a $100,000 home in the district an estimated $17 a year. The money would replace an expiring federal grant that paid for five popular RVTD routes. The Rogue River Fire Department's levy would cost the owner of a $100,000 home about $67 a year, or 67 cents per $1,000 of assessed valuation. The money would buy equipment to replace a 27-year-old fire engine, a 31-year-old tender and a 14-year-old off-road engine used for grass fires. The turnout is fairly normal for a May election, said Kathy Beckett, county clerk. But "usually when you have a money measure on the ballot like this, you usually see a better turnout. It's just not happening in this case." Mail Tribune Copyright �  The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA