Recount Of Veterans Service Ballot Measure

Lincoln County Clerk Amy Southwell has announced that her office will conduct a hand

recount of ballots cast in the Nov. 4 special election. Oregon law requires an automatic hand recount when the vote difference in an election is less than 0.2%. The vote tally for Measure 21-235: Veterans Service Office Five-Year Local Option Tax was 7,029 “yes” votes versus 7,014 “no” votes, a difference of 15 votes, which falls under that 0.2% margin, triggering a recount.

The recount will begin at 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 16 and continue that day until 4:30

p.m. Counting will recommence the following day at 8:30 a.m. and continue until

completed. There will be an observation area in the hallway of the second floor of the courthouse where those who wish to watch the recount process can do so on a large-screen

monitor. The measure was the only item on the November 4th election. When the results were first announced it appeared the measure was defeated however the county was close. After a month of checking it appeared the measured passed but again by 15 votes, which triggered the recount.

Veterans Services Officer Kieth Barnes was the one who approached the board of commissioners regarding placing a measure on the ballot for it to be brought to voters. Barns explained at the meeting that right now the Veteran Services Office is funded out of the County’s General Fund and through Oregon Department of Veterans Affairs pass-through funding – $222,771 and $119,000, respectively. This pays for three full-time employees, including two accredited Veteran Services Officers and an administrative assistant.

The proposed 0.035 per $1,000 would raise approximately $342,000 in the first year and would progressively increase over the 5-year period. Barnes told the commissioners that this funding was needed to bring on an additional veterans service employee to help with outreach for the office and also to help pay for transportation on county buses to help veterans to get to needed appointments. What wasn't made clear, that some opposed was that this funding would replace the funding for the veterans service office, taking it out of the county budget.