Fees are going up for people who live in unincorporated east Salem.
Starting this month, the public safety fee will rise to $11 per month from $10 per month. It will continue to go up in July 2025 by $1 per month to $12 per month and continue to go up by $1 per month each fiscal year through at least 2027.
The fee is placed on resident’s annual property taxes.
The public safety fee, which was first put in place in 2018, pays for 10 deputies from the Marion County Sheriff's Office to patrol the East Salem Service District, which includes the Hayesville and Four Corners neighborhoods.
Marion County's enforcement division commander, Jason Bernards, said the increase is being used to fund the rising cost of police salaries and equipment for deputies.
“These people are paying for a service that they really need and I think the majority really understand it and appreciate it,” Marion County Commissioner Kevin Cameron said.
In May, the three county commissioners, acting as the board of the East Salem Service District, approved the rate increase.
$6.1M allocated for Marion County Sheriff's Office in 3 years
At its June 26 county commissioner meeting, the commission voted to allocate the $6.1 million that will be generated in the next three years from the fees to the sheriff’s office for the deputies.
Marion County is projecting the increased fee will generate $1.9 million in the 2024-2025 fiscal year, $2 million in 2025-2026 and $2.2 million in 2026-2027.
The $11 monthly fee is the same for all properties in the area between Interstate 5 and Cordon Road — except those inside the Salem city limits. That means single family residential home owners will pay the same as multi-family owners pay for apartment dwellers and businesses.
“Any fee and a tax is a burden on most people and I’m grateful for the support that we’ve received from this community,” Marion County Commissioner Danielle Bethell said.
The fee is much like the contracted patrol services that Marion County provides for cities like Jefferson, Sublimity and Aurora.
The county said that 38% of calls that Marion County sheriff’s receive are for the East Salem Service District.
Option to add more deputies in future, but vote likely
At a community meeting in March, the commissioners presented an option of adding six more deputies to east Salem, raising the number of law enforcement to 16 for the area.
“While we only are increasing (the public safety fee) a slight amount there have been requests from the community to increase it additionally so we can have additional officers to support this community,” Bethell said.
In that presentation, the proposed fee would increase nearly double, starting with $21.34 per month in the 2024-2025 fiscal year.
They said then that raising the fee would be an issue they would put to voters to decide.
Bill Poehler covers Marion and Polk County for the Statesman Journal. Contact him at bpoehler@StatesmanJournal.com
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