HR County Has Wide Range For Local Option Levy

As Hood River County Commissioners continue to sort through the details of tax revenue measures to put before voters in May, their next task is to hash out a request for a local option levy.  No consensus has been reached on a rate, but new Commission Chair Mike Oates says assuming a five percent tax on prepared food and beverages passes, there is a range to consider.  He says if the local option just covers what the County is currently paying for with reserves, it would need to be a rate of 48 cents per thousand dollars of assessed property value, but to reach a level many County officials think they should be, it would take a dollar-58.  County Administrator Jeff Hecksel says the prepared food and beverage tax, modeled on one in effect currently in Ashland, would generate about one-point-seven million dollars a year.  Commissioners hold their next meeting on January 22.