Initial election returns Tuesday night show early support for Eugene’s library levy and mixed results for charter amendments.

If passed, Ballot Measure 20-381 would charge taxpayers 19 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value over five years, projected to raise $4.3 million for Eugene Public Library per year. 

Vote returns at 8 p.m. show 62.1% of voters supporting the levy and 37.9% rejecting it. 

If passed, the levy — which accounts for about 23% of the library’s budget — would allow the library to maintain current service levels across its three branches, bolster its early literacy programming and launch two new book-lending kiosks. Read more about the levy here. 

The levy would replace an expiring version, which charges 15 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value. The new levy amounts to about $54 a year for the average homeowner — roughly $17 more than the expiring levy, which was approved by more than 75% of voters in 2020. 

Charter amendments

Two minor changes to the Eugene charter — eliminating the residency requirement for city department heads and the use of gender-specific pronouns — have mixed results, according to initial results. 

The proposal to eliminate the requirement for city department heads to live in the city of Eugene appeared headed for defeat: Vote returns at 8 p.m. show 54.7% opposed to Measure 20-377, with 45.3% of voters backing.

The pronoun-related charter amendment, Measure 20-376, has early support as of 8 p.m., with 62.2% of voters supporting the proposal and 37.8% rejecting it. 

Read more about the proposed charter amendments here.

Grace Chinowsky graduated from The George Washington University with a degree in journalism. She served as metro editor, senior news editor and editor in chief of the university’s independent student newspaper, The GW Hatchet, and interned at CNN and MSNBC. Grace covers Eugene’s city government and the University of Oregon.