Ashland Budget Survey

Eliminate all city funding to the golf course

• The golf course & recreation programs are all currently operated by the Parks & Recreation department.
• Eliminating city funding for the golf course does not mean getting rid of the golf course, but either golf course service fees would have to rise to be self-sustaining, or the course would have to be privatized.

Minor or major reductions city funding for recreation programs

• This could result in substantially increased recreation fees and/or reduced availability for recreation programs.
• Reduced availability for recreation programs could mean a decrease in the hours of operation due to an inability to staff them at current levels. Larger parks would be given greater priority over neighborhood parks. The full list of recreation programs the city pays for the operation & maintenance of are: 
  • 18 public parks (including Lithia, Garfield, North Mountain, the Community Skate, the Dog Park, Calle Guanajuato & more)
  • Various sports programs across the city’s parks (basketball at Garfield & Briscoe, tennis at Hunter & Lithia, pickleball at Lithia, bike polo at Hunter, volleyball at Lithia & Garfield, bocce ball at Sherwood, horseshoes in Lithia, ping pong at Hunter & Grove)
  • Daniel Meyer Memorial Pool, the Hunter Park Community Pool
  • Centennial Ice Rink
  • North Mountain Park Nature Center
  • The Senior Center
  • Four community garden plots (Scenic, Clay, Ashland Creek, & Garden Way)  
• Cuts in funding to recreation programs could also mean a decrease in availability and/or increased fees for community recreation programs (including art classes, movement classes, discussion groups, language classes, etc.) and events (such as the World Music Festival).
• Minor reductions would mean that these changes would be less extreme than major cuts, but there could be impacts on availability, upkeep, or fees in either case. 
• More on programs and services offered by the Parks and Recreation department can be found here.

Add police officers and/or firefighters

• Current police staffing includes 28 police officers
  
• Current fire staffing includes 30 firefighters 
• May decrease response times for Fire and Rescue and Police services

Add other fire positions: fire marshal, fire inspector, CERT/weed abatement/admin assistant

• The City currently employs one fire marshal to ensure compliance with fire standards and educate about fire safety.
• CERT stands for Community Emergency Response Team. Ashland’s CERT responds to and trains volunteers to respond to emergencies such as the Almeda Fire.
• Weed abatement refers to removal of vegetation that poses a risk. This is usually done to prevent risk of fire. 
• This change could mean reduced response times for Fire and Rescue services and improvements in ability to prevent or respond to fires in the area. 

Outsource or increase associated fees to cover all costs of Planning and Building Review

The City of Ashland Building Division provides full plan review and inspection services for new and remodel construction within the City of Ashland. The possible increased fees would fall on contractors and developers and may deter some projects.

Reduce street maintenance by 15%

This would mean that city streets will receive less maintenance overall and delayed maintenance. Street maintenance includes street cleaning, paving, sign repair, and snow/ice removal.

Regionalize Police, Fire and Ambulance to save on administrative overhead costs

Regionalizing Police & Fire & Ambulance services would involve a cooperative arrangement with nearby police or fire and rescue departments. Ashland would still have a local police department and fire station; savings would come from reduced administrative overhead. This should not directly impact police or fire and rescue response times or level of service.  

Reduce Parks and Rec community outreach (including advisory groups and marketing) and administrative expenses to lower costs

Outreach and administration both make up moderate amounts of Parks department spending. This change may result in less or lower quality community outreach, possibly reaching fewer residents.

Maintain neighborhood or dog-friendly parks by volunteers or contributions. (Parks Dept. still maintains Lithia, Garfield, N Mtn)

This change would require community participation to maintain smaller parks. Maintenance includes watering, grounds care, trash removal, etc. This may result in lower levels of maintenance if there are not enough volunteers or contributions to keep smaller parks maintained at current levels. 

Delay or reduce future Capital Improvement projects (examples include streets, parks improvements, drainage, sidewalks, and right of way)

Capital improvement projects include a broad range of infrastructure construction. Delayed or reduced funding for these projects would mean delay and reductions on infrastructure improvement and maintenance, with lower-priority projects taking longer to complete or being dropped. 

Reduce/eliminate citizen committees and commissions

• This would create savings on overhead costs, but it would reduce opportunities for citizen involvement in city government. Citizen committees and commissions are intended to allow for greater citizen input. 
• The current committees & commissions are the Budget Committee, the Water Advisory Ad-Hoc Committee, the Community Center & Pioneer Hall Ad-Hoc Committee, the System Development Charge Review Committee, the Airport Commission, the Parks & Recreation Commission, the Climate Policy Commission, the Conservation & Climate Outreach Commission, the Forest Lands Commission, the Historic Commission, the Housing & Human Services Commission, the Municipal Audit Commission, the Planning Commission, the Public Arts Commission, the Social Equity & Racial Justice Commission, the Transportation Commission, the Tree Commission, & the Wildfire Safety Commission
• For more information on Ashland’s committees & commissions, click here.

Delay replacement of City vehicles (except public safety)

This would mean that city vehicles used for various departments would not be replaced on their usual schedule. This may lead to increased maintenance costs in the future for these vehicles.

Major reductions in Parks maintenance budgets (reduce watering, grounds maintenance, trash removal) except Garfield Park, Lithia Park, North Mountain Park

This would result in lower maintenance levels for included parks. Park greenery upkeep would be a lower priority and trash removal would be less frequent. 

Transfer state-law misdemeanor cases from the Ashland Municipal Court to Jackson County

• In addition to traffic & City Code violations, the Municipal Court currently handles all misdemeanors, while most municipal courts in Oregon do not. This proposal means that misdemeanor trials would be redirected to the circuit court in Medford.The majority of misdemeanors that are prosecuted in the Municipal Court are based in state law, such as Theft III, Criminal Trespass I and II, Failure to Perform the Duties of a Driver, Harassment, Disorderly Conduct II, etc. There are only a few misdemeanors based in the Ashland Municipal Code, such as Persistent Violation, and Discharging Weapons.
• A change to the Municipal Court’s duties requires a charter amendment, meaning that a referendum would be required to make this change. 

Keep the marijuana tax revenue in the city general fund instead of transferring to the housing trust fund

• Revenue from the marijuana tax totals approximately $100,000 per year.
• The housing trust fund goes to help low and middle income families afford housing, aiming to have eligible households pay less than 30% of their gross income on housing expenses. Sperling’s estimated the median cost of a home in Ashland to be $528,400 & median rent for an apartment to be $1,279. For more information on the housing trust, click here.
• This would mean that there would be less funding available to support low and middle income families afford housing in Ashland, and there would be more funding in the General Fund to be distributed in various departments. 

Reduce overall general fund spending by 5%

This option would not specify where budget changes are made and would instead leave those decisions to the City Council and the City Manager.  Depending on where the spending cuts are made this could lead to reductions in City services.