Elections

TWO MEASURES TO APPEAR ON THE MAY 21, 2019 SPECIAL ELECTION BALLOT 

Charter Amendment Regarding Frequency of the City Manager's Budget Submittals

QUESTION:  Shall the Lake Oswego Charter be amended to eliminate the requirement for the City Manager to submit annual proposed budgets?

EXPLANTORY STATEMENT: This measure has been referred to the voters by the Lake Oswego City Council.

Oregon Local Budget Law currently allows cities to adopt city budgets for either a single fiscal year or 24 months.  However, Subsection 20.B.3 of the Lake Oswego Charter, which lists the duties of the City Manager, currently requires the City Manager to “annually prepare and submit a proposed City budget for the ensuing fiscal year. . . ” This ballot measure amends Subsection 20.B.3. of the Charter to remove the annual budget submittal requirement, and to instead require the City Manager to “submit proposed City budgets for budget periods specified by the City Council and authorized by state law. . .”   This would allow the timing of the City Manager’s budget submittals to be consistent with whatever budget periods are chosen by the City Council.

 A “yes” vote amends the City Charter to allow the City Manager to submit proposed budgets for the same budget periods chosen by the City Council under Oregon Local Budget Law.  A “no” vote retains the current Charter language requiring the City Manager to submit budget proposals each year.

Bonds for Open Space, Parks and Recreation Land and Facilities

QUESTION:  Shall Lake Oswego issue $30 million in bonds for open space or park land, and for park and recreation facilities?  If the bonds are approved, they will be payable from taxes on property or property ownership that are not subject to the limits of sections 11 and 11b, Article XI of the Oregon Constitution.

SUMMARY:  This measure authorizes the City to issue up to $30 million in bonds to acquire real property for open space or parks, or to renovate, replace or develop park and recreation facilities. Uses will be guided by the city’s current and future parks and capital improvement plans. The bonds will be payable over a period of up to 20 years. 

The bonds will be repaid from property taxes. The resulting tax rate is estimated to be not more than $0.24 per $1000 of assessed value.  For a property with an assessed value (not real market value) of $500,000, the annual cost would be $120.  This is the same rate as the current open space and parks bond portion of property taxes for three current bond series, which will be paid off over the next three years. It is expected that the newly-approved bonds will be issued in several series, allowing the open space and parks bond portion of city property tax rates to be maintained at no higher than the current rate.

For more information contact the City Recorder/City Elections Officer at (503) 534-4225.

The City of Lake Oswego has a council-manager form of government. The Council is composed of a Mayor and six Councilors, all elected from the City at large for a term of four years.  Terms of Councilors are staggered, with three Councilors elected at each general election. The next opportunity to elect a Mayor and members of the City Council will be at the November 3, 2020 General Election.

Clackamas County administers and conducts all Federal, State, County, City and Special District elections in the county. Drive up and drop off your ballot 24/7!

Lake Oswego Ballot Drop Site Locations

City Hall
380 A Avenue
Upper parking lot on Fourth St. south entrance, in the turn around

Westlake Park
14165 Bunick Drive
Parking lot adjacent to tennis courts and fire station

Voter Registration

The Oregon Secretary of State's website offers an online voter registration form and a way to check on or update your registration. Voter registration forms are also available at City Hall and the library.