NEWPORT — County officials want to stop paying for the local veteran’s office and put its fate in the hands of voters every five years beginning Nov. 4.

The proposal to drop the Lincoln Co. Veterans Service Office from the $55.9 million general fund, strained by over $6 million in recent salary increases, was revealed this week in ballots mailed to voters. Measure 21-235, a 5-year local option tax levy, would raise about $360,000 per year through a new property tax to pay for the three-person agency. The office serves some of the 5,200 veterans estimated to reside in Lincoln County.

But a county commissioner who initially supported a property tax to expand veterans services has withdrawn his backing, saying the measure is not what the board of commissioners agreed to put on the ballot, but a different tax scheme altogether.

Casey Miller said the idea was discussed only once, at an Aug. 6 board meeting
where Keith Barnes of the veterans office claimed extra money raised by the levy would fund an outreach coordinator to work at events such as the Loyalty Days Parade in Newport, a Pride Festival in Lincoln City or the regular women veterans’ luncheons.

AUG. 6 BOARD MEETING (SKIP TO 9 MIN MARK)

“It’s very taxing to do this (outreach) and maintain regular hours and activities,” Barnes said, arguing the outside work was “essential” to engaging veterans. It is estimated that $25 is returned for every dollar spent on veterans services here.

The ballot title received by voters this week told a different story, however. Instead of expanding staff, money raised by a new tax would maintain operations as they are. “The Veterans Service Office would receive no General Fund dollars while this five-year local option tax is in effect,” wrote county lawyer Kristen H. Yuille. “Funds from this levy would fund the Veterans Service Office, and would remove the need to pay for the program out of the County General Fund.”

Commissioner Miller described the tax proposal as Bait-and-Switch, saying he now regrets voting for it. The measure was designed to magnify current services, not to make them uncertain.

“This underscores why I made the ethics complaint,” said Miller, who blasted fellow commissioners and the upper bureaucracy for making decisions in secret. “These behind-the-scenes budget decisions need to be brought into the light of day.”

Measure 21-235 is the only issue on the ballot for the Nov. 4 election.