GRANTS PASS, Ore. — Voters in two Oregon timber counties — Curry and Josephine — have turned down tax increases to fund law enforcement, but a jail levy passed in a third, Lane County.
Unofficial results with 100 percent of the votes counted show a five-year levy in Curry County went down 56 percent to 44 percent. It would have raised $4 million a year initially.
Josephine County voters rejected a three-year levy to raise $9.1 million a year by 51 percent to 49 percent.
But in Lane County, voters approved a five-year levy raising 14.5 million the first year. That measure was focused on increasing capacity at the jail and youth services.
All three counties made deep cuts in sheriff’s patrols and jail capacities after the expiration of a federal subsidy for timber counties.
