Do you know when the library levy was combined into the permanent county tax rate? The key event was Measure 50 and Tax Consolidation in 1997

• In 1997, Oregon voters passed Measure 50, which restructured how property taxes were handled statewide by transforming local levies into permanent tax rates.
• At that time, Josephine County had a three-year library levy of 33 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value.
• Alongside the county’s base rate of 25 cents per $1,000, the county commissioners combined that library levy into a new permanent tax rate of $0.5867 per $1,000 — effectively absorbing the library levy into the county’s general fund.
• The impact was immediate: library services were cut—staff layoffs, reduced hours, and program cuts began in August 1997. By 2007, the libraries were closed. The community believed strongly enough that libraries were critical and came together to reopen them as a non-profit.