Levy for Library, Parks and Recreation Services Wins Voter Approval

Services provided by the City of Corvallis Parks and Recreation Department and the Corvallis-Benton County Public Library received a resounding endorsement from voters with the May 21 passage of Measure 2-123, the City Livability Services Local Option Levy.

Preliminary reports indicate the citywide levy vote passed by a margin of nearly 73%, according to preliminary ballot information. The margin is the largest ever for a local option levy in Corvallis. The new levy replaces an expiring levy that had funded similar services and will generate between $5 million and $6 million annually for five years.

The outcome of the ballot measure preserves important services, including expanded hours and programs at the Corvallis Library, and keeps the doors open at beloved institutions such as the Osborn Aquatic Center, Chintimini Senior & Community Center, and the Majestic Theatre. The new levy also provides $360,000 in annual social services grants.

“Affordable and accessible services provided by the Library and Parks and Recreation help make Corvallis a special community,” said Mayor Biff Traber. “This week voters sent a clear message that they value these high-quality livability services by strongly supporting this new local option levy.”

In a quirk of timing, the election coincided with the City’s annual budget development process. Because City officials could not make assumptions about the outcome of the levy vote, the proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2019-2020 was built without any of the services and programs that will be funded through the levy.

With the outcome of the levy vote now certain, the Budget Commission will meet later this week and formally add those services back into the proposed budget.

The local option levy is an important part of the “three-legged stool” that has come to define the current funding approach for City services. The City Council implemented the first leg of the stool in 2018 by creating new public safety fees to fund increased services at the Corvallis Police Department and Corvallis Fire Department. The second leg was the levy itself, which successfully sought voter support for Library and Parks and Recreation Services. The third leg of the stool will be a proposed 911 service district in Benton County, which would replace the current, outdated agreement and create a more equitable funding model for 911 emergency dispatch services in the community.