Opinion
A4
Thursday, August 4, 2022
OUR VIEW
Cities may urge
Legislature to
raise taxes
ncrease taxes on booze. Allow cities to
increase taxes on marijuana. Change incen-
tives in the wake of Measure 110 so more
people in Oregon get drug treatment. Change the
law so temporary local property taxes become
permanent if they pass three or more times.
Those are all possible priorities that cities in
Oregon may lobby the Legislature to take action
on in 2023. The League of Oregon Cities has
asked cities across the state to pick their top fi ve
priorities from a list.
We decided to highlight a couple of things on
the list that we thought you might be interested
in.
The League of Oregon Cities may push that
state taxes be increased on beer and wine, so in
turn, cities would get more money trickling in.
One possible piece of legislation: Cities could
be allowed to have local sales taxes on beer and
wine.
When recreational marijuana was legalized,
cities were receiving 10% of the net revenue of
the state tax of 17% on all sales of recreational
marijuana. That changed with Measure 110. Rev-
enue to cities dropped. Cities can still have a local
tax of up to 3%. The League of Oregon Cities
proposal is for the state to somehow restore the
money that cities lost because of Measure 110
or allow voters in cities to raise the local pot tax
above 3%.
Measure 110 decriminalized much minor drug
possession in Oregon and replaced it with a $100
ticket. The concern has been that if a goal is to
get more people into drug treatment the mea-
sure might not work as intended. The measure
did shift more money into treatment centers.
It also, though, made it easy for someone cited
with a ticket to avoid paying, avoid getting treat-
ment and not face any repercussions. The League
of Oregon Cities proposes to encourage legisla-
tors to restore more incentives for people to get
treatment.
The League has come up with a number of
possible changes to property taxes. In Oregon
the permanent tax rates for cities were frozen
at 1997 levels and cannot be increased. That’s
because of Measure 50. For instance, they make
up about 76% of the revenue of La Grande’s $7.1
million general fund. One idea is to make it so
local option levies that pass three or more times
become permanent. Another idea is to allow
voters to set tax rates outside of the current limits.
These are just some of the changes that the
League of Oregon Cities may gear up to advo-
cate. You can see the complete list here tinyurl.
com/ORcitypriorities. What do you think your
community should support?
I
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Will Northwest have a fi re season?
MARY
WISTER
EYE TO THE SKY
t doesn’t take the test of a magic
eight ball to answer this ques-
tion. All signs point to yes. We’re
observing a late season based on
the cool and wet conditions this past
spring, but we still have about two
months of hot and dry conditions.
Southeast Oregon already has seen
a major wildfi re. At the end of June,
the Willow Creek Fire burned more
than 42,000 acres near Vale.
What a diff erence a year makes.
In June 2021, the Pacifi c Northwest
suff ered more than a week of bru-
tally hot temperatures and extremely
dry conditions. In June 2022, the
Pacifi c Northwest was cool and
wet for most of the month. Obvi-
ously, precipitation and temperature
extremes during the spring play a
role in the summer fi re season.
Last year in early June, Oregon
had its fi rst large wildfi re of the
season (Joseph Canyon Fire) in Wal-
lowa County that required an incident
management team. It’s not uncommon
to have grass fi res over Eastern Wash-
ington and Eastern Oregon in June,
but a large wildfi re in the higher ter-
I
rain where fuels are often green is
rare. Fires in this area often show their
ugly appearance in July.
Monsoon season typically kicks
off in the desert southwest in early
July, and moisture is often trans-
ported north that could contribute to
thunderstorms with lightning-caused
fi res over Eastern Oregon and south-
east Washington. Unfortunately,
human-caused fi res add to the wild-
fi re statistics in July as well.
The Climate Prediction Center is
expecting the continued hot and dry
conditions in the Pacifi c Northwest
through September. Fine fuels such
as grass and shrubs respond quickly
to changes in the humidity and pre-
cipitation. If you look around, you
likely will observe that cheat grass
and foxtails are thick and tall. Most
have cured with very little fuel mois-
ture. Grass fi res have been the pri-
mary concern this month. As we
continue to experience more hot and
dry conditions, the larger fuels in
the higher terrain will show signs
of curing and will be monitored for
large wildfi re potential.
The Northwest Coordination
Center Predictive Service in Port-
land works closely with other geo-
graphical area coordination centers
across the nation to compile a fi re
season outlook. The outlook is pro-
U.S. PRESIDENT
Joe Biden
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20500
Comments: 202-456-1111
Mary Wister is a meteorologist and fire weather
program manager at the National Weather
Service in Pendleton. Wister serves as an
incident meteorologist when large wildfires or
other natural hazards necessitate an incident
management team’s quick response to protect
life and property.
U.S. SENATORS
Ron Wyden
221 Dirksen Senate Offi ce Bldg.
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-5244
La Grande offi ce: 541-962-7691
Kate Brown
160 State Capitol
900 Court St.
Salem, OR 97301-4047
503-378-4582
U.S. REPRESENTATIVE
Jeff Merkley
313 Hart Senate Offi ce Building
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-3753
Pendleton offi ce: 541-278-1129
Cliff Bentz
2185 Rayburn House Offi ce Building
Washington, DC 20515
202-225-6730
Medford offi ce: 541-776-4646
STATE REPRESENTATIVES
GOVERNOR
Bobby Levy, District 58
900 Court St. NE, H-376
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1458
Rep.BobbyLevy@state.or.us
STATE SENATOR
Greg Smith, District 57
900 Court St. NE, H-482
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1457
Rep.GregSmith@state.or.us
Bill Hansell, District 29
900 Court St. NE, S-415
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1729
Sen.BillHansell@state.or.us
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vided around the fi rst day of each
month. From July through August,
the Cascade Range and the southern
half of Oregon have a greater than
average potential for large wildfi res.
Most of this area remains under
a moderate to extreme drought. In
September, the focus for large wild-
fi res will be from the Cascades west-
ward due to the likelihood of east-
erly downslope winds, and this area
will remain under above average
potential for large fi res.
No matter what the season has in
store, it’s better to be safe than sorry.
Maintain your lawn and cut down
tall weeds and grass. Don’t allow
vehicles to idle along grassy areas.
Campfi res should never be left unat-
tended and should be completely
extinguished when no longer in use.
Trailer chains should be properly
secured around hitches and not left
dangling to the ground.
The fi re season in Washington
and Oregon has been quiet so far;
let’s do our part to keep it that way.
Anindependent newspaper foundedin1896
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