Oregon State Ballot Measures
(Continued from Page22)
trolled by assumption and not by
legislation. And if property taxes
do increase, it will be
homeowners and renters who will
bear the burden of the increase,
not corporations.
Mike Dolan
4 a bond, not
a tax measure
State Ballot Measure Number
Four is a bond measure, not a tax
measure. It allows the state to sell
bonds at an interest rate set by
the state treasurer.
A bond is like a "governmental
IOU." The state promises to buy
back each bond it sells, at a later
date and at a higher price than it
sold the bond.
In the mean time, it uses the
money it gets from the bonds to
invest and make more money.
Measure Four allows the state to
sell bonds and then loan out the
money it makes to help Oregon
farmers and agri-business persons
irrigate their lands. The governor
must approve all projects.
It also allows the state to pur
chase other bonds being sold by
local communities. However, the
local bonds must be for the
purpose of paying for local water
systems.
The bonds might pay for
themselves. But if they do not pay
for themselves, the Legislature
can assess a property tax of not
more than one-and-one-half per
cent.
The idea behind the measure is
that more irrigation should in
crease farm productivity.
The Legislature has already
passed the law establishing the
bonding system. Measure Four
just pays for it.
The irrigation system it enables is
not the only one in the state.
Other government and non
government organizations already
provide loans for irrigation.
Mike Dolan
5 to meet
veteran loan
demand
Demand for state loans for home
building by veterans is booming.
In fact, demand has increased
beyond the authority of the State
of Oregon to raise money for such
loans.
State Ballot Measure Number
Five would authorize the
Department of Veterans' Affairs
to issue, as needed, additional
self-liquidating bonds to meet the
increased demand.
Loans in 1973 were at a record
level of $225 million, 56 per cent
above the year before. Measure
Five would allow the total to
increase to approximately $497
million.
Measure Five has an over
whelming trait of non
controversiality. It would not raise
taxes in any amount, as the bonds
are self liquidating. It would allow
the state to obtain funds from the
private sector at low rates of
interest (as municipal bonds), and
then loan the funds out to
veterans who need them at
correspondingly low rates of
interest.
A state official familiar with the
operations of the veterans'
department suggested that
Measure Five was so non
controversial that the committee
responsible for drawing up
arguments in opposition to it had
difficulty in doing so. Another
official stressed, however, that
the lack of controversy ought not
to obscure the importance of the
measure for veterans.
The biggest issues involved
seem to center around the
philosophy of making costs clear.
That is, by offering benefits to
veterans, the state is indirectly
subsidizing the military by making
military service more attractive.
On the other hand, voters may
be penalizing those who have
already been through the military
service if they vote no.
Another argument centers
around the fact that the loans are
available only to the particular
group of home-buyers who
happen to be veterans. Many
other people need assistance too,
so it has been suggested that a no
vote would register disapproval of
limiting the loan program to a
special interest.
Proponents point out that the
program costs the taxpayers
nothing, and that denying loans to
one group of needy people is a
peculiar way to secure loans for
all.
If Measure Five fails, the only
funds available for veterans'
home loans will come from in
cremental repayment of current
loans.
David Novick
6 allows
Legs/ature to
call itself into
session
Perhaps in the spirit of resurgent
legislative power that now seems
to be present in the federal
government, the Oregon State
Legislature has referred a measure
to primary election voters that
would enable the Legislature to
call itself into session during
emergencies.
State Ballot Measure Number
Six would allow the Legislature to
convene in special session if a
majority in each house filed a
written request for such a session
if they thought any emergency
affecting state government (the
energy crisis, for example)
existed.
Presently, the state constitution
provides only for sessions
beginning in January of each odd
numbered year, and for sessions
called by the governor. If the
governor did not agree that a
session was necessary, under the
present system the Legislature
would not be able to act.
Analysts and editorial writers are
quick to point out that although
the state currently enjoys the
benefits of having an agreeable
governor, that happy situation
may not continue forever.
Opponents of the measure cite
increased costs of additional
sessions, estimated at $12,000 a
day and see it as a way of getting
around the constitutional
prohibition of annual sessions,
suggesting that an explicit
constitutional amendendment to
permit annual sessions would be
better than what they see as a
stop-gap procedure.
The opponents point out that
Measure Six does not restrict the
number of bills that may be in
troduced in a speical session, nor
does it restrict the subject of bills
to the topic of the emergency
responsible for the session's
calling.
Those advocating passage of
Measure Six, who include most
gubernatorial candidates, suggest
that the benefits of a new check
on executive power in the state
outweigh the disadvantages.
They contend that the flexibility to
conduct special sessions will
serve to shorten regular sessions,
and balance gubernatorial powers
that have increased due to new
legislation concerning energy
emergencies.
The governor's power to
convene special sessions at his or
her discretion would remain
unchanged, as would the
requirement for regular biennial
sessions.
David Novick
7 gives LCC
a new tax base
County Ballot Measure Number
Seven gives Lane Community
College (LCC) a new tax base. A
tax base is the amount of taxes
the college is allowed to raise in
order to fund the school.
LCC wilt probably not spend all
the money Measure Seven makes
possible.
If the measure passes, the
college will be able to rase
enough money for the next two or
three years without having to go
to the taxpayers.
The measure allows the college
to increase its budget about 11
per cent this year. It would have
to raise the budget that much just
to be able to provide for the same
amount of students next year as it
did this year.
The new base would increase
property taxes 28 cents for every
thousand dollars. The current rate
is $1.41 per $1,000, the proposal
measure would increase the rate
to $1.69 per $1,000.
Mike Dolan
8 & 9 for
more efficient
solid waste
disposal
If Lane County voters pass two
measures —Measure Number
Eight and Measure Number
Nine—on the May 28 primary
ballot, they will have a more
efficient and accelerated solid
waste disposal program, ac
cording to Jo Ann Youngblood,
Lane County Community
Relations Director.
The tax base under Measure
Number Eight would be increased
to provide an on-going finance for
garbage disposal so that the
county would not have to ask
voters for more money every year
or every four years, depending on
. the kind of tax levy used, said
Youngblood. She noted that this
increase is for managing the
program, for paying salaries and
for operating costs.
With Measure Number Eight,
Lane County's current property
tax base would be increased to
provide $975,000 for the purpose
of including the county-wide solid
waste management (garbage
disposal) operations within the
general fund of Lane County, said
Youngblood. She said it would
also provide $156,988 for general
county operations which would
be the normal six per cent annual
increase in the current tax base.
Currently the county's solid
waste management program is
financed by a special serial levy on
property taxes which expires July
1 of this year, by fees paid at the
landfills and by supplementary
funds from the county's general
budget.
An increase in the tax base by
over $1 million dollars as the
measure proposes would permit
operation of a county-wide solid
waste management program
based on one of two options, said
Youngblood.
The first option would be a
continued operation of rural
transfer stations and regional
sanitary landfills as a primary
means of disposal. The other
option would be an accelerated
program including new facilities
for processing, recycling and
transferring garbage or other new
technology, depending upon the
availability of additional funds and
facilities.
Measure Number Nine, requires
up to $3,500,000 worth of bonds
needed to construct facilities for
processing, recycling and tran
sferring of garbage and to acquire
other land and equipment
necessary for carrying out a
county-wide solid waste
management program which
would include capabilities for
resource and energy recovery,
said Youngblood.
A grant from the state Depart
ment of Environmental Quality
(DEQ) has been requested,
Youngblood said, which could
provide $1,050,000 toward con
struction of the resource recovery
facilities. Measure Number Nine,
she said, gives the voters an
opportunity to indicate whether
they support a garbage disposal
system which would be more
costly regardless of whether it is
constructed and operated by
public or private organizations.
If the measure is approved,
Youngblood said, private industry
will be able to make proposals
indicating their methods of
construction, operation and
financing. She said if, after review
of these proposals, the county
determines it is more economical,
and in the public interest, to
encourage private ownership
and —or operation, it is possible
that all or a portion of the bonds
would not have to be used.
Youngblood also added that if
the county gets the $1,050,000 it
needs from the DEQ, then it
would not need to use the general
obligation bonds worth
$3,500,000 for solid waste
facilities construction.
But the $3,500,000 general
obligation bonds measure must
be on the ballot for voter approval
because the county is not sure if
state and federal money
will come to them, Youngblood
noted.
Bob Galvin
noRJ6-*.t; +H*
-» HC.V l *** <» ~i>a<n>;a
JIM REDDEN FOR GOVERNOR
• Redden supports the referendui
on a nuclear plant moratorium
• Redden opposes an extension
of the field-burning deadline.
• Redden supports Mass Transit
Mid Public Health Care.
JIM REDDEN IS THE BEST
CHOICE FOR GOVERNOR!
Paid by the Redden Committee, Janie Co*
Treasurer, 225 West Main, Medford 97S01,
5 15 74