Lack of the double majority
increases money measures
Some governments are
not waiting for the
November's ballot to
pursue ballot money
SALEM—Freed from the “dou
ble majority” rule for the first time
since 1996, local governments are
loading the November ballot with
money measures for everything
from jails to schools to light rail.
More than 120 money measures
seeking more than $2 billion will
appear on Nov. 3 ballots across
Oregon.
Thursday was the deadline for
local governments to file tax mea
sures with county elections offi
cials.
Measure 47, approved in 1996,
required money measures to be
approved by a “double majority”
—a majority of votes plus at least a
50 percent voter turnout — to be
valid. The only exception is dur
ing the general election in even
numbered years.
It was replaced by Measure 50,
which retained the double-majori
ty provision, last year.
In May, voters approved 39 of
62 measures but only nine
achieved the double majority. At
least 20 local governments that
passed measures but failed to get
the 50 percent turnout are rattling
their tin cups at voters again.
Wish lists for November in
clude at least 25 school bond mea
sures and 47 public safety tax re
quests.
rrom 1990 to 1997, local gov
ernment debt in Oregon rose from
$4.4 billion to $8.4 billion, when
the state’s population grew by 13.2
percent to 3.2 million.
Not all the governments who
failed in May are waiting until No
vember.
Deschutes County, for example,
has a $41 million sheriffs operat
ing levy on the Sept. 15 ballot.
Measure 50 included modest
property tax cuts for many Orego
nians and enacted other limits on
how fast taxes can increase. But it
also provided exceptions.
Bond measures are exempt from
the limits. And operating tax rates
are frozen, but the governments
can ask voters for temporary levies
for as long as five years. At least 46
governments are doing so in No
vember. The largest request is a
$79.7 million levy to move nu
clear fuel from pools near the Co
lumbia River at Hanford nuclear
reservation.
The K Basins cleanup project,
which would transfer 2,300 tons
of corroding fuel to a dry storage
vault near the center of the 560
square-mile reservation, is consid
ered a top priority at Hanford.
“We understand the urgency of
getting this squared away as
quickly as possible,” Erik Olds, a
spokesman for the Energy Depart
ment here, said Friday.
The K Basins project is not cov
ered under the Tri-Party agree
ment — the legal pact that is sup
posed to hold DOE to cleanup
standards and timetables. The
state Department of Ecology and
the EPA are negotiating with the
Energy Department to add the K
Basins to the agreement.
The talks moved into dispute
resolution with a mediator be
cause no one trusts the frequently
changing cost and time estimates
enough to commit to a legally
binding contract.
Friday was supposed to be the
deadline for the Energy Depart
ment and EPA representatives to
complete the talks. Olds said he
didn’t know if the deadline would
be met but progress was being
made, and he expected some ac
tion soon.
Earlier this summer, the govern
ment approved a one-year con
tract extension to DE&S Hanford,
the contractor overseeing the K
Basins project.
Estimated costs have risen from
$740 million in 1995 to $1.4 bil
lion and possibly more in 1998.
Meanwhile, the expected comple
tion date has slipped from 2001 to
2005. The current target date for
the start of fuel removal is Novem
ber 2000.
The contract extension for
DE&S Hanford, a subsidiary of nu
clear construction giant Duke En
gineering of Charlotte, N.C., con
tains goals which the company
must meet to be considered for fu
ture extensions.
Fluor Daniel Hanford Co., the
main Hanford contractor, and
DE&S Hanford have overhauled
project management in recent
months.
DOE and EPA want to push the
cost estimates down and possibly
make the completion date earlier.
But Doug Sherwood, EPA’s
Hanford site manager, is skeptical
about the ability to obtain accurate
estimates any time soon.
“I think we still have a ways to go,"
he said last week. “The costs are not
well defined. We have a big fear they
will rob (programs) with lower pri
orities to feed the spent fuel project.”
Hanford’s modern-day mission
is cleanup of the accumulated ra
dioactive and hazardous waste
from four decades of plutonium
production for the nation’s nu
clear arsenal.
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