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About Vernonia's voice. (Vernonia, OR) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (July 6, 2017)
community news july6 2017 3 Salem Report By Representative Brad Witt This session, we had not only an opportunity, but a moral obligation to rebuild the broken pieces of our budget and revenue systems, which have been crumbling for more than two decades. The Joint Committee on Tax Reform has spent several months trying to put together a sweeping reform of the way we do taxation in Oregon. Recently we were informed that the Committee could not come to an agree- ment on the proposals before them, so unless something changes soon, they have indicated that tax reform will have to wait until our next full session in 2019. I firmly believe that the Commit- tee’s initial attempts were grounded in reality: the need for a serious re-evalu- ation of the role of corporate taxation in our state, along with an equally serious program of cost containment. Unfortu- nately, it does not appear that a solution is achievable at this time. We did, however, have the op- portunity to consider a bill that adjusts the tax rate on small businesses, HB 2060. Back in 2013, tax rates for this segment of the economy were lowered in order to encourage job creation. HB 2060 changes some of the parameters of the tax brackets so that only businesses employing 10 or more employees will be able to qualify, thus raising the rates on those employing fewer than 10 em- ployees back up to pre-2013 rates. Al- though the bill also targeted certain sec- tors such as agriculture, food service, warehousing, etc., that are prevalent in my district, I could not support a bill that would end up targeting the small- est of these businesses that may already find it difficult to compete. The bill did pass on a narrow 31-28 margin, and is now over in the Senate. Graduation is now complete for the schools in my district, and I just wanted to extend my congratulations to all of the graduates. I hope your fu- ture is filled with accomplishment. I also hope that you will remember the importance of public service as you build your professional and personal lives. Wherever you live, your commu- nity will need your enthusiasm, creativ- ity and generosity. You will gain more than you give, I promise. It’s parade and festival time! I was so please to be able to participate in the St. Helens Kiwanis Parade on Sat- urday, June 17. It was a great day, lots of participants as well as onlookers, and no rain! I will be joining in the Clats- kanie Celebration on the 4th, assuming we are not in the Capitol! Around the district Vernonia and St. Helens also have festivals and fireworks to celebrate our independence. Publisher and Managing Editor Scott Laird 503-367-0098 scott@vernoniasvoice.com Contributors Jim Bryson Kailia Jackson Karen Kain Stacey Lynn Aaron Miller Representative Brad Witt Photography Artistic Communications Kailia Jackson Scott Laird Want to advertise? Have an article? Contact: scott@vernoniasvoice.com City Council Considers Plan for Street Repairs continued from front page based on analysis of the street condition data. Streets and alleys in marginal or poor condition within each area were evaluated and the current condition, prescribed treatment and preliminary estimated costs for resurfacing, and stormwater improvements were provid- ed in the report. “The goal of any city would be to get those streets rated ‘poor and marginal’ addressed within one to two years,” said Mitchell. The report notes that the City currently has approximately $100,000 in the streets operating budget for re- paving and upgrading streets, with an estimated cost for surface improve- ments of $2-$3 per square foot. The revenue for this fund comes entirely from the City’s allotment of the state gas tax. The City has no stormwater op- erating budget. While System Develop- ment Charge (SDC) funds of $62,000 are available, these funds must be used for new stormwater improvements or to increase capacity. Any stormwater proj- ects included in a street project, which do not qualify for SDC use, will need to be paid out of the streets operating bud- get. The report does offer several options for funding street condition improvements. General obligation bonds would need to be passed by vot- ers, while a debt service bond could be approved by the Council. The Council could decide to charge a monthly fee on the City utility bill that would be dedi- cated to streets and storm water, simi- lar to the $2 parks fee currently being charged. The City could also consider creating Local Improvement Districts (LIDs) which are special taxing districts voted on by the land owners in the area to generate funds for a particular set of improvements. The report notes that the City of Vernonia has not had previ- ous experience with LIDs. At the workshop, the Coun- cil reviewed the report and began the process of discussing priority areas for improvements. “The Council asked staff to get estimates for the costs to fix the streets rated ‘poor,’” said Mitchell. “They also asked for estimates for streets that provide connectivity around Louisiana Avenue and for staff to look for grant funding for that, because those streets service a large number of houses and there is more development happening up there.” Mitchell noted that some of the streets that were rated poor are cur- rently gravel which will be easier to ad- dress on a tight budget. She said the FULL SPORTS PACKAGE! 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Vernonia’s Voice, LLC PO Box 55 Vernonia, OR 97064 503-367-0098 www.VernoniasVoice.com Cedar Side Inn Taco Tuesday from opening until 9pm 3 hardshell or 1 softshell $4.25 Ladies’ Night every Thursday 6pm-close • Free Pool • Free WiFi • Specialty Pizzas iheck our Facebook page for daily specials and upcoming events 756 Bridge Street, Vernonia 503-429-5841