PRINEVILLE, OR -- Crook County voters are being asked to support the Bowman Museum with a new property tax.
The museum’s local option levy rate has not changed since 1998 and Crook County Clerk Cheryl Seely says it's been easily renewed every 4 years, “In 2014 it passed with a little over 83 percent. In ‘18 it was again a little over 83 percent of the votes. So always had a pretty good number as far as yes votes go.”
Crook County’s voter registration numbers keep growing, “I know we’re over 20 thousand now. I know we were kind of hovering right around that in the spring for that election. But yeah, the numbers keeping coming, records keep increasing. People keep relocating and you know of course we get a lot of people that move with in the county as well.” Seely isn’t sure what that increase means for voter sentiment this time around.
The levy helps keep the museum running, “Just ongoing expenses including building maintenance, upkeep, staffing, collection development, that sort of thing. The museum does courthouse tours and different things like that and they’ve got a lot of programs that they have in their additional building,” says Seely.
This is the first time a tax increase has been suggested. A property with an assessed value of $200,000 would pay $8 more than previous years for a total of $20 per year if Measure 7-82 passes.
If measure 7-82 fails, the museum says staffing and hours would be reduced along with cutting programs and activities.
