The city of Salem will hire an outside company to audit its information technology department and move forward with a fire department audit in early 2026 after recent polling data showed distrust in city stewardship of tax dollars.  The city’s finance committee, which is made up of city councilors Micki Varney, Deanna Gwyn, Jose Gonzalez, and Vanessa Nordyke, voted Monday to authorize the audits in an effort to identify efficiencies and build community trust. City Councilor Linda Nishioka is an alternate on the committee.  The fire department, which has a budget of $51.4 million, would likely not be audited until after the city’s ambulance service is taken over from a private contractor in July of 2025, Nordyke said.  “I’ve said many times that we need to build trust with our community and audits are one of the ways that we demonstrate that we are a good steward of taxpayer dollars,” Nordyke told Salem Reporter. The vote came ahead of a city council work session Monday reviewing recent polling data showing local voters are staunchly against raising property tax rates to fund city services. The results will inform how the city approaches its 2026 budget process when the city’s budget committee convenes Oct. 30, according to City Manager Keith Stahley.  If more revenue is not found before the next budget is set in stone, drastic cuts to city services will ensue. “This is the most important conversation we are going to have this year. This is a start of a conversation that will shape the future of the city for decades to come. We have big questions ahead of us and we need to start down the path towards answering those questions,” Stahley said. “The more clarity we have, the more likely we will be able to achieve something important.”  The poll surveyed 400 likely voters asking them how they feel about two potential property tax levies to pay for city services. Results showed Salem voters would likely reject either of two levy options: a “livability levy” focusing on libraries, Center 50+ and parks, or a public safety levy funding police, fire and emergency response.  In poll, Salem residents say they won’t pay more property taxes for public safety, library or parks On Monday Stahley blamed the city’s budgetary woes on the rising costs of city services and Oregon’s property tax system, citing Measures 5 and 50, two constitutional amendments that limited property tax growth. “While property values have risen substantially, the growth of our tax revenue has not kept pace leading to funding gaps that will require changes to how we provide critical services to residents,” Stahley said.  John Horvick, senior vice president at DHM Research, the firm that conducted the city polling, addressed city councilors and staff. In addition to sharing the results he pointed out data showing general voter pessimism about Salem.  Horvick said out of those who responded, 57% of voters indicated they believe the city is heading in the wrong direction.  He said similar patterns are not unusual in cities across the state.  The survey also said that more than a quarter of those who indicated they did not want to pay more taxes to support public safety would not pay because they are concerned about government mismanagement of funds.  For those asked why they would not support the community livability levy, one third of respondents said property taxes are simply too high as it is. Horvick said in order to successfully pitch a tax increase to voters in the future the city needs to strike a balance between explaining the need and making it clear what tax dollars will buy. He said it will take consistent communication and a lot of work to gain voters’ trust and understanding of the situation at hand.  “Voters tend to repel against feeling like they are being threatened, but I feel quite confident that voters don’t fully understand the situation the city is in,” Horvick said.  Salem Mayor Chris Hoy said he has been accused in the past of threatening voters with bad outcomes when he believed he was being “candid. Not threatening,” and asked Horvick how the situation should be communicated.  “For instance I believe if we don’t find revenue very soon, we will have to make very difficult choices that will involve cutting significant services here in the city. I’m talking fire stations, I’m talking police officers, I’m talking library,” Hoy said. “I certainly don’t want it to sound like a threat. It is certainly not. I just want people to know that’s where we are.”  Horvick suggested that the community might be more responsive to a first responder, like a firefighter, making the case for a tax increase as opposed to an elected official like Hoy.  He also said demonstrating good stewardship and repeating the basic facts of the matter consistently, such as the fact that city services are funded by property taxes, is key to gaining trust.  “You have to get that soil ready for the time when the ask is going to be,” Horvick said. “Demonstrate to the community consistently and over and over again, don’t take for granted that they might know how you are being a good steward of the current tax dollars,” Horvick said. “So folks know that a simple solution of just, ‘Tighten your belt,’ isn’t the full answer.”  City Councilor Jose Gonzalez, who is the chair of the finance committee, said one question he was hoping would get answered during the city council meeting was whether Salem has further to go than other cities to gain back community trust after last year’s payroll tax failure.  Gonzalez said performance audits like the ones discussed by the finance committee could help achieve that goal.  He said the audit into the city’s Information technology department should be done late this year or early next year. City officials didn’t have a cost estimate for the audit during Monday’s meeting, but said the cost is already built into the city’s budget. The goal for the performance audit aside from building trust is to find ways to save money and make things work more efficiently, Gonzalez said.  “There might not be money to be saved but maybe there is a different way to be doing things,” Gonzalez said. “I’m not saying the staff is inefficient. Because they are working hard … but it is about looking at the process.”  Gonzalez said when the budget committee, which includes the entire city council, convenes on Oct. 30, there should be at least an early sense of where the city is headed with the budget come next fiscal year.  Contact reporter Joe Siess: [email protected] or 503-335-7790.A MOMENT MORE, PLEASE – If you found this story useful, consider subscribing to Salem Reporter if you don’t already. Work such as this, done by local professionals, depends on community support from subscribers. Please take a moment and sign up now – easy and secure: SUBSCRIBE. The post Salem will audit IT, fire departments amid voter distrust in city spending appeared first on Salem Reporter.