12/3/2025, To: Josephine Board of County Commissioners/ CC: Grants Pass Tribune
Commissioners,
I ask that you carefully consider the following information as you determine what constitutes a fair participation fee for the Josephine County Fair. Neighboring fairs rely on entry fees rather than imposing what amounts to a youth tax, and that distinction matters.
I am an expert in livestock shows and served as the Oregon State Fair Livestock Office Manager in the early 1990s. At that time, we were not only the second largest livestock show in the United States but the second largest in the world. My ROV Angus show alone had more than 220 head of Angus cattle. With that experience in mind, I must emphasize that a fee is a charge for a specific service, while a tax is a mandatory payment for general public services. A participation fee is only appropriate when it is an equitable entry fee applied consistently to all participants in comparable competitions throughout the fair, whether those participants are in photography, sheep, beef, horticulture or any other division.
What Tamra is proposing as a youth participation fee is, in reality, a youth tax. She has stated in recent emails that the funds will be used for judges, ribbons, building maintenance, security, electricity and other general expenses. Yet she has failed to outline which participants will be required to pay this tax or explain why only youth exhibitors should shoulder these costs. Some of the very expenses she lists are not being assessed to open class livestock shows, even though open class exhibitors benefit from the same judges, ribbons and facilities. Open class participants do not even need to be county residents. Last year there were no open class entry fees at all, and I provided the proof of that in printed form at a November workshop.
In a November Administrative Workshop, Tamra stated that circumstances changed in 2021 and that the fairgrounds became more involved in youth shows. She also acknowledged that judging qualifications vary by show. If higher priced and more specialized judges are required for certain divisions, all participants within those divisions should be charged equally. General fair expenses should likewise be assessed equitably to open class entrants.
Tamra has been charging two youth taxes for five years, which I strongly oppose. She has collected a twenty five dollar per youth tax and a ten dollar per head prefair tax since 2021. Given that, she should easily be able to provide the Board of County Commissioners with five years of detailed income and expense records to justify calling these taxes fees. Youth and Ag claims around three hundred participants. Using a reasonable average of two hundred fifty youth and animals over five years, the total collected would be more than forty three thousand dollars. That is eight thousand seven hundred fifty dollars each year. Accurate accounting should already exist and should be provided.
There are clear reasons these youth taxes should be eliminated. Open class uses the same judges and receives the same basic ribbons. Youth and open class livestock both receive banners, buckles and rosettes that are donated. Both groups use the same facilities and general fair services. Youth and Ag insurance is reportedly paid by the fairgrounds from participation fees even though FFA and 4 H maintain their own insurance. The auction is managed by a nonprofit, not the county, and that nonprofit should be responsible for its associated expenses. For two decades, youth participants and their families have donated a full day of community service to prepare the barns before fair. Over the last fifteen years, more than one hundred thousand dollars in equipment has been donated to the fairgrounds in the name of 4 H, FFA and Youth and Ag. Building maintenance, security and electricity are general expenses that should be shared equally with open class.
There are also strong reasons to eliminate the prefair tax. Brand inspection fees are a state requirement for the youth auction and should be paid by the nonprofit auction committee. Prefair ear tags are unnecessary, apply only to auction animals, and could easily be applied after fair weigh ins when youth select their single auction entry. Prefair deworming presents health and liability risks, and I do not believe the county should assume that liability. General facilities expenses again should be shared equally.
I am troubled that Jen McGowan stated in her email that the twenty five dollar youth tax would be collected. That decision must be made by the commissioners after a public discussion and consideration of all relevant information, including what will be presented at upcoming workshops. After the November Fair Board meeting, board member Kim Gasperson told me they intended to collect the ten dollar prefair tax and use it for repairs in the swine barn. Building maintenance is a general expense and should not be placed solely on youth exhibitors. She later suggested that open class should pay for its own judges, which aligns with my position that all fees must be applied equitably. The most concerning comment, however, was her assertion that the fairgrounds is a nonprofit. I corrected her, noting that it is an enterprise zone and that Tamra Martin is a county employee. Fees are the responsibility of the commissioners and must be decided only after weighing the fairness and purpose behind them.
Sincerely,
Deb Berg, Josephine County Taxpaying Resident