Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About What's happening. (Eugene, OR) 1982-1993 | View Entire Issue (March 19, 1987)
■ P "I *$ 39777 9 43,7," ‘ 4 ( • • 79 2x/Y **17 s • $ */** ' $ OPINION “h A • . ■ A. ‘ •w hid ■ w “ From the same people who tried to bring you the Eugene City Income Tax.... The Eugene Airport Expansion Bond by Kevin Collins The following is a guest editorial by free-lance writer Kevin Collins who has been researching the Airport Expansion issue for over half a year. On March 31, the property owners of Eugene are being asked to write the City Council a blank check. Beyond the rhetoric, the Airport Expan sion Bond Measure is a property tax levy, mere ly the latest attempt to place a burden which benefits the few squarely on the backs of the many. The City’s last attempt to raise taxes was the Eugene City Income Tax/Eugene Agenda pro posal . The City Council placed this measure on the ballot after they claimed that a series of town meetings showed that “the people of Eugene were n favor of financially supporting this nicasure. The 80 percent margin of defeat ex hibited w woefully insensitive or out of touch the Ci icil was with the desires of their con stituents. Undaunted, the Council sought alter nate plan B and C and D. . . . The Airport Committee of the City Council then seriously explored the possibility of simp ly funding the city's $5.83 million share of the expansion out of the general budget. With more overviews than the Wright brothers would have imagined possible, this just wouldn’t fly. Why? Because, where would the money come from? There is a city-estimated $1.5-2.5 million pro jected operating deficit for the coming fiscal year. City services have been shrinking percep tibly every year. Police and fire cuts, de teriorating and unmaintained parks, fewer library hours—services which virtually every citizen uses on a regular basis—have been quick ly eroding Eugene’s vaunted quality of life. Incr ased Operating Budget And lider in cones v—with no Saturn plant, super col en Van Duyn Chocolate Company Airport Expansion “general obliga 9 66 It is common knowledge that a general obligation bond gives the governing body the power to raise property taxes to pay it back.” tion” Bond Measure. Amid much fanfare, the Council announced and “officially” adopted a resolution that they will “try” to fund this Measure, to the tune of $600,000 a year (prin cipal and interest) for the next 20 years, out of “existing revenues.” This plan makes no al lowance for an “estimated” $650,000 plus in ad ditional airport operating costs yearly. Remember the Hult Center. Airport manager Bob Shelby goes on record with the assurance that the airlines will “automatically pick this up” per working ar rangements with the airport. Mr. Shelby has done an admirable job of running the current airport facility in the black for several years. However, there is nothing on paper that can be produced to pencil this out. Councilman Rutan of the Airport Committee also assures us the airlines will pay these costs. However, Shawn Boles of the Eugene City Budget Committee states that he has requested this information from Mr. Rutan on a number of occasions but that “I keep getting put off, being told it’s be ing processed or whatever.” When the Council announced the airport bond they did not announce that they had won $6 million in the mega bucks game! They could not, or would not, say specifically, generally, or any other way, what these “existing revenues” were. Instead, the Ballot Measure states mere ly, “Shall the City be authorized to issue general obligation bonds for airport improvements in an amount not to exceed $5.83 million?” On the ballot we will see in the voting booth on March 31, there is no mention of the fact that approval of the Bond Measure gives the Council the right to levy an additional property tax. Pamphlet Buries Property Tax Information The City used public money to print a five page pamphlet to describe the measure. The mention of the Council's right to raise property taxes is on page five, the very last sentence before the actual wording of the measure. This is, to some extent, buried in the copy. On page two, double spaced and highlighted with bright blue “key point” dots are descriptions of four improvements that the measure will not even fund but which are “proposed, and would be privately funded.” When? By whom? Why is the mention of the property tax levy buried on page five? Attorney Tim Sercombe of the City Counsel office helped approve and defends the wording and presentation of the advertisements and ballot measure. He also con tends, “It is common knowledge that a general obligation bond gives the governing body the power to raise property taxes to pay it back.” However, in a random survey of Eugene pro perty owners, 80 percent did not know that this was the case. Thus, if these 80 percent went into the ballot booth without hunting up this infor mation, they would not know that they were giv ing their approval for the Council to put their hands into the pockets of property owners. Members of the Coalition Against Taxes call it “deceptive”; City Budget Committeeperson Shawn Boles calls it “convoluted.” Whether an intentional deception or an accidental blurring of the facts, it appears that the citizens of Eugene have received less than full disclosure. A sen sible alternative might be for the Mayor or Ci ty Council to fully utilize the media and other means to reach every citizen and state, “We plan to use the funds from X, Y and Z to fund this project. If that is insufficient, we will have to raise your property taxes. That is what you are voting on.” Councilman Roger Rutan is one of the chief proponents of the Expansion Bond and is also head of Oregon Venture Capital. As such, he is presumably approached regularly for funds and capital. Were an individual to approach him about a project with this type of repayment scenario, one can conjecture about how quick ly and forcefully the individual might be directed to the gate. Effect on Other City Services Many opponents of the Bond Measure reject it because of contertions that it would drain ci ty services that are already shrinking. KMTR recently ran a segment featuring Richard Greene who is the owner of Rainbow Optics in Eugene. Mr. Greene cited recent cutbacks in library hours as solid evidence that the City could not afford this massive airport expansion without further and severe cutbacks to city services. KMTR’s Carol Donnegan reported the story and ended it by adding, “City officials reply that library closures and the airport expansion are not related.” Since both would be paid for out of the general fund, this is a peculiar statement. It is hardly surprising that no “city official" would put his or her name to this claim. At Continued on page 16 Comfort with food and thought. BOOK &TEA Open earlier to serve you better Now open for breakfast at 7:00 am NEW HOURS: Tues, thru Sat. 7:00 am to 10:00 pm Sun: 9:00 am to 5:00 pm Closed Monday 1646 East 19th, Eugene • 344-3422 noteworthy ( SO OVERWHELMING. . .. 2 A ,.6 SO OUTRAGEOUS. . SO. . . 0 I "I THOUGHT MY HEAD WOULD EXPLODE!'] Stos >* Stmr” Parents Property Owners -Business Persons Locke . & i Wampler ATTORNEYS —can assist you with— WILLS, REAL ESTATE & BUSINESS MATTERS -===227MillSt. Eugene 484-0621 asrusen0fTee stans FINaNC-s Mt 1wons COLDWCLL BANKER• 1142 WILLAGILLESPIE ROAD. #7 EUGENE, OR 97401 BUS. (503) 484-9815 •aaaOO EREE CURTIS IRVING P REALTY, INC COMPARATIVE MARKET ANALYSIS (with this ad) Find out what your home is worth in today’s market CALL BONNIE 342-4075 O R : LABBE 484-9815 Anindependentiy Owned andoperated Member ot ColdwelBanker Residential Affiliates, Inc. poppi/ GREEK.TAVERNA Greek Food 9 Wine and Spirit 675 East 13th * Eugene, Oregon * 343-0846 Closed Tuesdays T L Published Every Thursday Publishers Elisabeth Lyman Lucia McKelvey Sonja Ungemach Editor Lucia McKelvey Advertising Manager/Editor Elisabeth Lyman Production Manager/Editor Sonja Ungemach Office Manager/Production Sheri Longobardo Assistant Editor Deborah McGee Cover Design Melanie Pratt Advertising Representatives Susan Brokaw Ken Hof Martha Wagner Garde Wells Randy Yost Contributing Writers Deborah McGee Jim Stiak Michael Sussman Lois Wadsworth Martha Wagner Photographer David Stein Distribution Daybreak News Ca Typesetting Prototype Camera Work Graphics Unlimited Printing Springfield News 335 West 20th Avenue Eugene, Oregon 97405 (503) 484-0519 Copyright 1987 What’s Happening. All rights reserved.
