SALEM, Ore. — Oregon voters in some parts of the state are being asked to open their wallets to beef up funding for schools in next Tuesday’s election.
In Portland, the largest school bond in state history is at stake. The $790 million spending package would raise taxes to address high levels of lead in drinking water at almost every school, lead paint, radon and asbestos at some facilities.
In Central Oregon, voters in the fast-growing school district covering Bend and La Pine are being asked to approve a property tax hike to raise $268.3 million in general obligation bonds. Between 2000-2016, district enrollment grew by more than 5,000 students, according to the county clerk’s office. More than half of the elementary schools and all of the high schools in Bend are near or over capacity.
In other parts of the state:
• Josephine County votes on measures to continue funding the animal shelter, to fund the adult jail and juvenile detention facilities for five years and to establish a special tax district to restore limited public funding to the county’s libraries. Voters there, the epicenter of Oregon’s pot production, are also being asked to prohibit the production of recreational marijuana in all rural residential zones. Some people who live near growing operations are upset with illegal camping and compounds associated with grow sites.
