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PUBLIC SAFETY Grants Pass voters will decide sales tax question Council puts 2 percent tax on November ballot to replace existing taxes Comment By Jim Moore Grants Pass Daily Courier MailTribune.com By Jim Moore Grants Pass Daily Courier Posted Aug. 4, 2015 at 3:49 PM By Jim Moore Grants Pass Daily Courier Posted Aug. 4, 2015 at 3:49 PM » Social News Grants Pass voters will be asked in November if they want to add a 2 percent sales tax in exchange for eliminating a public safety levy and a utility fee that pays for jail beds. The sales tax would cover the retail sector, as well as restaurants. Any sales tax has to be approved by the voters. The money would pay for jail beds, to reopen the detention center at the Juvenile Justice Center and to help pay for criminal prosecution. The City Council voted 5-2 to send the measure to voters. Council President Dan DeYoung and councilors Jim Goodwin, Dennis Roler, Roy Lindsay and Rick Riker voted in favor. Councilors Lily Morgan and Ken Hannum voted no. Approval of the measure would eliminate the current public safety levy of $1.79 per $1,000 of assessed value. It also would eliminate and offset a utility fee the council adopted two years ago to pay for extra beds at the Josephine County Jail. The fee is currently $2.84 a month per residential household. Businesses also pay the fee on a sliding scale. The councilors who supported the question repeatedly told the audience that they were not determining the issue themselves, but were going to let voters decide. Opposition came from more than a dozen members of the audience, including Colene Martin, the president of the Grants Pass & Josephine County Chamber of Commerce. In a prepared statement, Martin told the council that a sales tax would hurt the local economy. She cited the hardships of being a small business owner. "These businesses are at risk every single day," Martin said. "The feedback from the business community is that this type of a tax will be a detriment to their business. Some will choose to close their doors and others will move outside the city limits." However, Lindsay said, it is not a tax on businesses, it is a consumption tax. "Businesses don't pay taxes, a business is a funnel," he said, noting the cost will not be absorbed by businesses, but rather passed on to customers. Goodwin said he has talked to several property owners and he does not know of one who is opposed to eliminating the supplemental public safety levy, which voters renewed on a four-year basis in 2013, in exchange for a sales tax. There would be multiple exemptions to the tax, such as unprepared food (most groceries) and real estate services, and any items that are already being taxed, such as alcohol, tobacco and fuel. In addition, the sales tax would not be applied to more than $1,000 on any single purchase price. That means the most anyone would pay in sales tax on any single item, such as a new car or major appliance, would be $20. Business owners would also receive rebates to cover their costs for administering the new tax. There would be a 10 percent rebate for the first $1,000 in tax collected during a sales quarter and a 2 percent rebate on collections in a quarter that exceed $1,000. By Jim Moore Grants Pass Daily Courier MailTribune.com By Jim Moore Grants Pass Daily Courier Posted Aug. 4, 2015 at 3:49 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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