Camas voters reject utility tax that would have funded police staffing

Camas voters have rejected a ballot measure that would have raised the city’s utility taxes by 4 percent to fund new police department positions.

Initial results posted to the Clark County Elections website at 8 p.m. Tuesday show Proposition 5 failing with 60.69 percent, or 3,185 voters, casting ballots against the measure and 39.31 percent, or 2,063 voters, voting for it.

In November, Camas City Council members approved placing the utility tax on the ballot to help realize Camas Mayor Steve Hogan’s plan to shore up a $6 million budget shortfall in 2025-26, and to pay for what Hogan and Police Chief Tina Jones have called “critical staffing needs” at the police department.

The new utility tax would have been added to an already approved 2 percent tax on the city’s water, sewer, garbage and stormwater utilities, and would have been earmarked for police staffing and related equipment and training.

“It was something I wanted to put before the voters, to hear their voice,” Camas Mayor Steve Hogan said Tuesday night after learning the ballot measure was failing. “They spoke, and I respect the concerns of the citizens. Now we have to come together and find alternative solutions to support our police.”

If passed, the new utility tax would have raised about $1 million annually and funded four new police positions, including two police sergeants, one lieutenant and one police officer to help plan for a potential “retirement cliff.”

Jones said in 2024 that 45 percent of the department’s sworn officers will be eligible to retire within the next five years and noted that it can take nearly 18 months to recruit, hire and fully train new police officers.

Jones said Tuesday night that, while she was disappointed by the election results, she wasn’t giving up on trying to bring the police department’s staffing levels up to where she believes they need to be.

“As our community continues to grow and the demands for services on our team increase, we see indicators that we are not staffed appropriately to meet the current and future police service needs,” Jones said. “This need has been here for years, so the longer things get delayed, the more demand that puts on our services.”

Jones said staffing issues have already strained her department.

“We’re already seeing that negative impact on our service levels,” Jones said. “And I still worry greatly about inadequate supervisory support, especially for our new employees. But I’m not throwing in the towel. Sometimes we have setbacks, but we find ways to move forward with the resources and the people we have.”

Jones said she wasn’t taking the voters’ rejection personally or as an indicator that Camas voters don’t support the police department.

“I heard from many community members during this process saying they support the police and see the need for the positions, they just did not want to see the funding come in the form of a utility tax,” Jones said.

Hogan said he intends to keep pushing for funding for police staffing.