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.

