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community
may5
2016
Candidates Discuss Issues at Two Forums continued from page 7
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ballot. They could decide at any time to
adjust that ordinance and put it out for a
vote. They don’t need a voter initiative,
and have had plenty of years to do it,”
said Preheim.
Magruder said all natural re-
sources are already taxed in the form of
property taxes. “I think we could get
carried away in dividing everything up
into taxable units. We all pay property
taxes, the timber companies pay a har-
vest tax, and the aggregate pay a deple-
tion fee. We even pay a tax in a form
when we buy a license to fish. I’m not
sure how much we want to depend on
one segment of our natural resource in-
dustries to support us.”
Tardif suggested reviewing all
ordinances to be sure they are all in com-
pliance with their original intent. He
noted that there aren’t other ‘value add-
ed’ taxes like the depletion fee and dis-
cussed how the county used to worked
in partnership with corporate loggers to
create beneficial tradeoffs. “Now what
we see is all the timber being harvested,
all the gates are being shut, and all the
raw materials are being shipped out of
the county to be processed,” said Tardif.
“There are no jobs here and that was the
point of these laws when they were en-
acted - to create jobs for local economies.
If that’s not what they’re doing then they
need to be reevaluated.” He also sug-
gested that an audit of the depletion fees
needs to be done to make sure the county
is receiving what they are owed.
Funding CC Rider Transit
When asked how they would
propose to fund and operate the Colum-
bia County Rider transportation system,
all candidates agreed that the county
needs a transit system and almost all
agreed that a Special Transit District
might not be the best idea, but had differ-
ing and limited ideas about other ways to
fund it.
Tardif stated that history has
shown that special tax districts don’t
always work. “I want to see CC Rider
funded and be a viable transportation
system for our seniors, for our youth, for
people who don’t drive and want to get
to Portland or Astoria,” said Tardif. “The
question is, how do we fund it?” Tardif
suggested a model like Tri-Met uses to
tax employers, but noted that Columbia
County doesn’t have enough large em-
ployers to make that work. He said he
has spoken with people who have other
ideas about how to fund it, but gave no
other examples. He also noted that the
county misses out on matching funds
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and admitted that right now the only so-
lution to bridging the funding solution is
a special transit district.
Hyde noted that there are only
two transit systems in Oregon that don’t
have a tax base to support them. “We
have to have some type of supplement
to make our transit system work,” said
Hyde.
Yarbor said he supports CC
Rider but restated that he is against more
taxes and stated when asked about the
ballot measure, “If we give it to them
now, how much will they want next
time? I would support it 100% if they
would run it like a business and I think
people would be more likely to fund
them if they did.”
Preheim said he is against a
transit district, noting that the county
has a poor record of mismanaging spe-
cial districts. He specifically criticized
the upcoming election for the Board of
Directors, stating that they were hand
selected. “I think that’s how we get the
mismanagement that we’ve had,” said
Preheim. He suggested a payroll tax as
a way to fund the system. He stated that
CC Rider is not being transparent in how
they are advertising the need for a transit
district for seniors and veterans, when,
in fact, the funding would be used to in-
crease fixed route service. Preheim also
questioned the qualifications of Transit
Director Janet Wright. “She is a grant
writer, not a transit coordinator and we
need to hire someone who does that for
a living.” Preheim later stated, “Being a
leader in the county is not always wait-
ing to see what the voters say, but saying
what you think yourself and being able
to make a decision. You can’t always
have a survey when you want to make a
decision. You have to be able to say how
you feel, whether it’s going to be popular
or not.”
Magruder took exception to Pre-
heim’s statement that special districts are
mismanaged. She stated that the Com-
missioners would have a chance to listen
to the voters on the ballot measure and
then would have to either go back to the
drawing board to find a way to fund it if
rejected, or provide the proper oversight
if approved.
Conn was the one dissenting
voice when she said she approves of the
idea of a special district and said Colum-
bia County citizens need to invest in a
transit district. Conn said a payroll tax is
not a good idea. “We’re trying to attract
businesses, not encumber them.”
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Taxing Natural Resources
The candidates also had differ-
ing opinions on the use of taxes on natu-
ral resources as a funding source.
Hyde said Columbia County is
the only county in Oregon that taxes ag-
gregate. “I think it’s a good thing and we
use that to fund our road department, but
I don’t think we should use an aggregate
tax to build everything we need. What’s
next, a tax on the 518 small woodlands
owners on their trees? So, no I’m not
big on taxing natural resources.” Hyde
later pointed out that the depletion fee
was enacted as a voter initiative and the
County Commissioners do not have the
ability to rewrite it on their own, as an
ordinance.
Yarbor agreed with Hyde, not-
ing that he was criticized for receiving
campaign funding from companies that
mine aggregate. “That doesn’t mean I
have to do them favors,” said Yarbor. “I
never looked at it that way. As long as
they comply with the law, I’ll support
them. I support all business and indus-
try in the county.” Yarbor went on to
explain that the current $0.15/ton deple-
tion fee raises $400,000 to help repair
the roads. “If we raise that fee and take
the money and give it to another govern-
ment agency, that’s just like taxing the
people because the people will end up
paying it anyway.”
Preheim said he thinks the ag-
gregate tax is good and fair but hasn’t
been increased in years. He criticized
the fact that when the fee was designed,
it was created as a static tax with no au-
tomatic adjustment for inflation. “That
was a bad bill. It should be rewritten
and that fee should go up.” Preheim
also disagreed with Hyde’s assessment
of how the depletion could be changed.
“As far as it requiring an initiative, that’s
what the County Commissioners can do.
They have to have a public hearing and
then they can place it on the ballot, like
the CC Rider initiative that is on this
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