Yes on RVTD Ballot Measure 15 - 240

Why SO Health-E Is Endorsing the RVTD Levy

Our Steering Committee voted to endorse Measure 15-240, the renewal of Rogue Valley Transportation District's local option tax levy on the May 19, 2026 primary ballot. We want to explain what it took to get there, what we heard from community members, and why we think this vote matters.

What the measure does

Measure 15-240 renews an existing property tax levy at the same rate Jackson County voters approved in 2016 and again in 2021. At 13 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value, a homeowner with a $300,000 home pays about $39 a year — roughly $3.25 a month. It is not a new tax and it is not a rate increase. Without renewal, the current levy expires June 30, 2026, and RVTD loses critical local funding with no replacement in sight.

The money funds RVTD's bus operations and Valley Lift, the door-to-door paratransit service for seniors and people with disabilities who cannot board a regular bus.

Our process

SO Health-E doesn't endorse ballot measures lightly. Every policy decision goes through our equity evaluation process, led by our Policy Committee and reviewed by our full Steering Committee before any action is taken. We asked the questions we always ask: Who is most affected if this passes? Who is most harmed if it fails? Does this align with our mission to advance health equity and center the voices of impacted community members?

The answers pointed in one direction.

What community members told us

Leslie lives in Ashland. She is legally blind and a full-time wheelchair user, and she relies on RVTD for most of her transportation. She describes herself as independent — but the current state of RVTD's routes and schedules limits which jobs she can accept and which errands she can run.

She gave a specific example. She was recently scheduled to table at a senior fair on a Tuesday afternoon. RVTD no longer serves that location. She couldn't go.

Leslie named what's at stake in plain terms: limited routes and schedules prevent people like her from contributing economically and force many into isolation — and isolation, as our own health equity work confirms, increases poor health outcomes. She described RVTD not as a convenience but as her primary connection to work, social life, and community participation.

"Please vote yes on this ballot measure," she wrote. "It costs very little and will allow many of us to financially and emotionally contribute to our community."

Her experience reflects what RVTD's own 2025 rider data shows: 70% of riders have no car, 54% are employed but 68% earn under $25,000 a year, and 25% are seniors or people with disabilities. Nearly one in four riders said they would not have been able to make their trip at all if the bus weren't available.

Why transit is a health equity issue

Transportation is one of the social determinants of health — the conditions that shape whether people can live healthy lives. When someone can't get to a medical appointment, loses a job because they have no ride, or can't reach a grocery store, their health suffers. Social isolation, which transit cuts directly cause, is linked to higher rates of depression, cognitive decline, and chronic disease.

These are not hypothetical risks. They are what happens when bus service disappears.

The cuts are already happening

In September 2025, RVTD reduced service by 40% when federal and state funding fell through. Nine of sixteen routes were suspended. Saturday service was eliminated entirely, including Valley Lift. Nearly half the RVTD workforce was laid off. Thousands of people lost rides they counted on and had no alternative.

This is what happens when local systems depend entirely on unstable state and federal funding. Local levies are one of the few tools a community can actually control — and right now, the federal and state funding environment makes that local stability more important than ever.

What a yes vote does

Renewing the levy won't immediately restore everything that was cut. But it gives RVTD five years of stable local revenue — the foundation for maintaining current core service and rebuilding based on community and rider input. It prevents the next round of cuts. And it keeps Valley Lift running for people who have no other way to reach their doctors.

Our ask

If you are a Jackson County voter, we urge you to vote yes on Measure 15-240 by May 19. If you are an organization or community partner, we encourage you to add your endorsement at rvtransit.org. Volunteers are also needed to talk to neighbors, make signs, and get the word out.

Public transit is community infrastructure. Keeping it funded is an equity decision — and this one is ours to make.