Our community strongly supports our Local Option Levy. Hillsboro voters have approved the levy six times in a row since 1998, with 82% voter approval in 2017 and again in 2022.

Hillsboro’s Local Option Levy pays for our first responders and parks maintenance professionals. It generates funding needed to pay for police, fire, and emergency medical services that keep our community safe, healthy, and peaceful.

This is one big reason why Hillsboro is consistently rated among the best places to live in the United States.

Oregon’s property tax structure hasn’t changed since the 1990s. Measure 50 places limits on property tax growth to 3% annually, along with new construction. This has led to many communities being unable to maintain or enhance service levels to desired levels.

Agencies in Oregon have only one mechanism to enhance or maintain services levels: a 5-year voter approved levy. The City of Hillsboro has been mindful not to increase the levy rate since 2006, even as costs and service demands increase. Increased costs due to cumulative inflation over the past several years have unfortunately outpaced property tax revenue growth and have put added pressure on the cost of essential City services.

Despite increasing costs and service demands, we continue to work hard to be efficient with our resources. The financing support of our local option levy enables us to provide the public safety and parks service levels that you expect. Thank you for your continued support of our Police, Fire & Rescue, and Parks Maintenance personnel!

Funded by Hillsboro's Local Option Levy

Police Services:

• Sworn officers on duty
• School resource officers
• Code enforcement
• Criminal investigations
• Youth outreach & education
• Child abuse/youth intervention
• Light rail patrols & traffic enforcement
• Homelessness engagement & mental health response
• Community policing, crime prevention efforts, and community involvement programs

Fire & Rescue Services

• Fire apparatus staffing
• Community disaster preparedness
• Fire investigation & prevention programs
• Emergency response times to medical & fire calls at internationally accredited performance benchmarks
• Safety programs designed to reach children, elderly, and other at-risk populations
• Extrication and rescue capabilities for industrial & transportation accidents

Parks Maintenance Services

• Park maintenance & landscaping
• Wetland & natural area maintenance
• Upkeep of sport fields, playground equipment, picnic shelters & restrooms

Read more Finance 101 articles

• Finance 101: Revenues & Services in Hillsboro

• Finance 101: Hillsboro's General Fund

• Finance 101: Transportation Utility Fee (TUF)

• Finance 101: Surface Water Management (SWM)

• Finance 101: Transient Lodging Tax (TLT)

• Finance 101: Tax Increment Financing (TIF)

• Finance 101: Clean Water Services

• Finance 101: Water Rates

• Finance 101: System Development Charges (SDCs)