According to the County, the proposed Fiscal Year 2026–2027 budget for Lane County is balanced, preserving critical services and making the most of the limited financial resources available.
“Sixty percent of Lane County’s budget has historically come from state or federal funding sources,” said Lane County Administrator Steve Mokrohisky. “As those revenues continue to shrink, and we face our perpetual challenge of one of the lowest permanent property tax rates in Oregon, we are seeing that percentage decrease, which puts at risk our ability to offer a wide array of high-quality services to our community. As we worked to put together this year’s proposed budget, we conducted a thorough and thoughtful process to identify cost reductions and revenue enhancements that balance the budget while maintaining core services.”
Lane County’s budget comprises 34 distinct funds, many of which are restricted by law to specific services. Lane County’s General Fund, which collects general property taxes, is the most flexible fund, and nearly 76% of it supports public safety, with the remainder supporting public health, human services, and general government services. The proposed budget is balanced but does include the reduction of 15 full-time equivalent (FTE) positions across several departments and funds. Nine of those positions are currently filled. There are no reductions in services or positions in the Sheriff’s Office, District Attorney’s Office, or Assessment & Taxation.
The proposed budget includes using $4.8 million in unallocated Transient Lodging Tax reserves to fund the current level of rural Sheriff’s Office patrol for the next two years while the County works to identify a long-term funding solution for the Sheriff’s and District Attorney’s offices.
Without this funding, rural residents, visitors, and tourists would experience a drop in patrol services starting in July. Transient Lodging Tax (TLT) is collected from people who rent hotel, motel, or vacation rental rooms in Lane County.
A recent legislative change now allows local governments to use up to half of the TLT enacted since 2003 for non-tourism uses.
“We believe that allocating a portion of unallocated TLT to support underfunded public safety is prudent, given the options available to us,” said Mokrohisky. “We respect the concerns expressed by our tourism partners, and I hope they can respect the balancing act that we are managing with regard to our public safety funding challenges in Lane County.”
Lane County has not reduced the amount of TLT to be used for tourism-related activities in the proposed budget.
More than $11.4 million, including projected increased funding for Travel Lane County for tourism marketing, will be used to support tourism across Lane County. Tourism plays an important role in Lane County’s economy.
The Budget Committee, which is comprised of five appointed residents and the five county commissioners, began its review of the proposed budget with a meeting and public hearing on May 5. A video recording of the proposed budget presentation and public hearing is available online.
The Budget Committee will meet multiple times this week s to receive information from County departments, on May 12-14.
The Budget Committee will have the opportunity to approve the proposed budget and any recommended changes on May 20 at 5:30 p.m. Public Comment will also be received at that meeting. Written public comment can be submitted to the Budget Committee at [email protected].
The Fiscal Year 2026–2027 budget will be presented to the Board of County Commissioners for adoption in late June.
All meetings are broadcast live on Metro TV (Comcast Cable channel 21). Meetings can also be watched live online at www.LaneCountyOR.gov/webcasts.
