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
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