QuickTake:

A new state law gives counties more flexibility to use more of the transient lodging tax revenue for other needs beyond tourism. In Lane County, that could help pay for rural sheriff’s patrols. But it also attracts pointed opposition. 

Lane County’s proposed budget relies on a tool that state lawmakers handed Oregon counties this year that could keep sheriff deputies patrolling rural areas of the county and free more money to help pay for modernized, expanded courthouse services.

Earlier this year, lawmakers passed House Bill 4148, which reduces the share of transient lodging tax revenues that must go toward promoting tourism or tourism-related activities. Under the new law, cities and counties can use half of transient lodging tax revenues for other needs, up from 30% previously. The revenue comes from hotel and other short-term lodging stays.

Due to that change, Lane County’s budget proposal calls for putting transient lodging tax money toward rural patrol services and courthouse modernization.

But those proposed uses drew criticism Tuesday, June 9, from tourism officials and a prominent Eugene developer who encouraged county officials to reconsider.

Under the new law, the county’s transient lodging tax reserve funds, now estimated at $13 million, give the county access to a pot of $6.5 million to tap for nontourism expenses. For the next two fiscal years, the county’s budget plan calls for spending about $4.8 million on existing rural patrol services — nearly $2 million in the upcoming fiscal year and about $2.8 million in the following year. 

The budget proposal also calls for putting $1.7 million in transient lodging tax reserves toward the courthouse project. 

For transient lodging tax revenues in the upcoming year, estimated at $15.8 million, the county is planning to put nearly $2.2 million toward the courthouse project. The courthouse item is half of a 2% county-approved increase in the tax that started in 2023, originally for tourism-related facilities.

“Two percent was not a random number,” Samara Phelps, president and chief executive officer of Travel Lane County, said during a Tuesday public hearing on the budget. She reminded commissioners that the money raised by the 2% increase originally was intended to go only to tourism capital projects.

Phelps added: “I ask the board to honor the commitment and the intent of that.”

Her comments came during the public hearing on the county’s proposed budget. The board is scheduled to vote June 23 on the $1.2 billion spending plan.

The county and Travel Lane County are exploring the potential of a multiuse indoor sports facility to increase tourism and hotel stays. The county is putting $225,000 of transient lodging tax funding toward a feasibility study. 

Brian Obie, a prominent developer and former Eugene mayor, also was critical of the county moving the funding away from its original purpose.

“I want to speak as loud and profound as I can,” Obie said. “Lane County shifting these dollars is in fact shifty.”

Obie added that the county “administrators should be ashamed of themselves.”

“You have a good reputation,” he said. “Why destroy it?”

After the testimony, Commissioner Pat Farr made a motion asking county staff to bring back information June 23 about what the budget would be like if transient lodging tax funding is removed from the nontourism items, including rural patrol.

Farr wants to see if other funding sources like reserves could be used instead of the tourism money, stressing he doesn’t want to eliminate or reduce rural patrol services. Farr said it’s possible he would still vote for the original proposal, with the expanded lodging tax funding, after reviewing more information.

Without the funding in place through some source, Sheriff Carl Wilkerson said he would have to reduce rural patrols and other services, including a detective who investigates property crimes.

Commissioner David Loveall appeared open to using reserves instead of transient lodging tax dollars. The county has a public safety task force that is looking for long-term solutions to funding law enforcement. The county could go to the public as soon as 2027 to seek tax increases for that purpose, possibly through a payroll tax or special district. 

“I think this warrants a reserve dip for the funds to keep the sheriff’s office whole,” Loveall said.

Commissioners passed the motion 4-1. Commissioner Laurie Trieger opposed the motion, saying the budget already represents months of work and input already. 

“I’m not willing to throw away or frankly disrespect the months of work” put into it, Trieger said.

Under the proposed budget, transient lodging tax revenues and reserves also will cover tourism-related items that include the Lane Events Center, marketing grants, the Lane County Historical Museum and repairs to covered bridges. 

Ben Botkin covers politics and policy in Lane County. He has worked as a journalist since 2003, most recently at the Oregon Capital Chronicle, where he covered justice, health and human services and documented regional efforts to combat fentanyl addiction. Botkin has worked in statehouses in Idaho, Nevada, Oklahoma and, of course, Oregon. When he's not working, you'll find him road tripping across the West, hiking or surfing along the Oregon Coast.