MEASURE 30
continued from page 1
the Lane Council of Governments.
The Oregon Department qf Educa
tion estimates school districts
statewide would have to bear the loss
by laying off approximately 8,000
teachers and other licensed staff
members, enlarging class sizes by four
or five students and chopping off 27
days from the academic year.
At the University level, Vice Presi
dent and Provost John Moseley said
the University would stand to lose be
tween $1.7 and $2.5 million in the
wake of Measure 30's failure. He
added that the state funding loss
would be just the latest in a series of
cuts, and the University would no
longer be able to continue providing
the same level of service using less and
less money. If Measure 30 fails, course
offerings will be cut back, he said.
"With all the budget cuts so far, we
have protected academic programs and
courses," Moseley said. "We are unable
to do this if there are further cuts, unless
we can replace those cuts with new
revenues. We will likely be looking at
some combination of course reduc
tions and tuition increases."
Currently it costs $10,274 to be a
full-time student, according to a re
port released by LCOG. Student tu
ition pays for 64 percent of that figure,
while state appropriations cover 36
percent of it. In 1999-2001 this
amount was split evenly, with the stu
dent share growing to 54 percent in
2001-03.
Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski, in a
visit to the University last week, said the
state's shrinking contribution to higher
education is a growing problem.
"One of the things Oregon has not
done well in the last 10 or 15 years is
have an investment policy in post-sec
ondary education," he said, which is
why he supports Measure 30.
Ballot Measure 30 enacts several
temporary and permanent tax in
creases and changes to ensure that
public services, such as education, law
enforcement and various social serv
ices, maintain the minimum funding
they need to provide quality service to
the public.
If approved, Measure 30 will raise
approximately $1.25 billion during
the 2003-05 biennium, with around
$800 million coming from a tempo
rary surcharge on income taxes. The
surcharge is a graduated income tax
assessment, which means the more
"It is imperative that there
be some reinvestment
in higher education in
the next biennium, or
tuition will continue to
increase substantially."
John Moseley
Vice President and Provost
money a person makes, the more he
or she must pay. Middle-income tax
payers would pay an extra $3.17 a
month in taxes if the ballot measure
passes, while taxpayers who make
more than $200,000 a year would
pay an extra $194.33 per month.
Measure 30 would also enact other
tax law changes and an increase in
business taxes.
According to a report prepared by
LCOG, if the tax plan is defeated, K
12 schools will be hit the hardest with
a $414 million loss in funding. Public
schools would lose $544 per student
this school year and $586 per student
in the 2004-05 school year.
In the LCOG report, all school dis
tricts in the county were asked to re
spond to a survey on how Measure 30
would affect them, and the Spring
field School District estimated a $7.5
million loss of funding if Measure 30
is rejected.
Also in the report, one Pleasant Hill
School District official responded to the
survey by saying that some opponents
of Measure 30 wrongly believe schools
can offset state funding losses by mak
ing their budgets more efficient.
"That argument is coming from the
same misinformed, mean-spirited in
dividuals who proclaim that we do
not have a funding problem in public
education, but a spending problem,"
stated the official.
The Eugene School District indicat
ed it would face a $12.24 million
budget shortfall if the ballot measure
fails. The survey quoted a district offi
cial as saying that they would consider
cutting school days, staff positions
and programs to get out of the red.
"Teachers are already having diffi
culty meeting the needs of students
who need extra help," the district of
ficial said. "Some middle and high
school classes in core subjects have
40 to 50 students."
Even though the ballot measure's
success will save educational insti
tutions from taking drastic meas
ures like cutting school days and in
creasing class sizes, Moseley said
the revenue package is not a final
solution to the University's finan
cial difficulties.
"We have already cut to the bone
and are still looking at a $2 million
deficit next year," Moseley said. "It is
imperative that there be some rein
vestment in higher education in the
next biennium, or tuition will con
tinue to increase substantially."
Contact the news*editor
at jenniferbear@dailyemerald.com.
TAXES
continued from page 1
"So many students just don't
know what they're voting about, and
then they just don't vote," the stu
dent advisory group's Co-President
Alie Sewell said.
Measure 30 would prevent $544.6
million in cuts to education, public
safety and social services, according
to the Oregon Legislature.
The panel — consisting of a De
mocratic state senator, a local school
board member, a Republican Party
representative, the director of a con
servative lobbying group and a for
mer Democratic state representative
— spent nearly two hours agreeing
that Oregon was in crisis, but differ
ing widely in how they thought the
problem should be fixed.
The right-leaning panelists called
for lower taxes and a better business
environment, while the left called
for support of social services. All
agreed, however, that in the words of
moderator Jackman Wilson, tax re
form is "one of the most important
public policy issues that has faced
Oregonians in a long time."
State Sen. Floyd Prozanski, D-Eu
gene, said a committee of legislators
is meeting to look at ways of over
hauling Oregon's tax system, but
critics on both sides questioned
whether the group will come up
with any meaningful reform.
"The reality is, we as a state have
to figure out what we want and how
we're going to pay for it," Prozanski
said.
For now, the only funding option
Oregon voters have before them is
Measure 30.
Russ Walker, director of Oregon
Citizens for a Sound Economy, has
led the charge against the ballot
measure. The state needs to be more
efficient in its spending, not raise
taxes, he said.
"Anybody who says taxes don't
matter does not spend any time
with businesses and business lead
ers," he said.
Bringing additional taxes to a state
with a high unemployment rate and
low rate of job creation only further
discourages businesses from coming
to Oregon, Walker said.
"You have to leave the state of Ore
gon to get a job in many cases," he told
the nearly 30 students in attendance.
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Prozanski responded to Walker's
portrait of Oregon's business cli
mate by citing Oregon's Office of
Economic Analysis, which estimates
that Oregon's economy will improve
in the coming months.
He later added that if Measure 30
does not pass, the Department of
Higher Education will lose $7.5 mil
lion, and he estimated that universi
ties would make up that shortfall by
raising tuition once again.
Former state representative Kitty
Piercy focused her comments on the
community's social welfare.
She said that as a member of the
Lane County Commission on Chil
dren and Families, she regularly sees
the negative impact that a loss of
funding has on social services and
community members.
Piercy said University students are
included in that tax payer bracket
and should think about the impact
that their vote on Measure 30 will
have.
"I'd like each of you to leave here
with some concern for your commu
nity," she said.
While opposing panelists dis
agreed on the path they wanted to
take to solve Oregon's tax crisis, they
agreed that the state did need to ad
dress the issue.
"There isn't good or evil here,"
said panelist and 4-J school board
member Tom Herrmann. "I think
the debate about Measure 30 ... is
really a debate about what we want
Oregon to be."
Contact the city/state politics reporter
at nikacarlson@dailyemerald.com.
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