I
the
Print
ClackamasCommunitv College""
VQh XVIII. No, 4
_
Wednesdayk Q^t9ber 24, 1984
Schools, public services hurt by measure
By Jane Wilcox
Of The Print
Services provided by the police, fire and sheriff’s
department’s will suffer heavy budget cuts if Ballot
Measure 2 passes Nov. 6.
As a property tax limitation, Measure 2 will limit
the ability of state and local governments to raise
revenues from property taxes, income taxes,
assessments, user fees or changes that would increase
revenue without the consent of the voters.
Measure 2 would limit real property taxes to l'/i
percent of assessed property based on July 1, 1981
values and limit it to no more than 2 percent per year
over the prior year ’s assessment value. The tax of any
real property would be limited to 1 percent, or $15
per $1,000 of assessment, or the amount levied for
the 1983 tax year if that amount is less than the
amount produced by a $15 per $1,000 rate.
The measure would cause a decrease in the amount
of money now available to schools and local govern
ments. Voters can exceed the 1 Vi percent tax limita
tion by a 50 percent voter.turnout on the proposed in
crease, and a simple majority to approve it.
The argument in favor of the tax limitation is sim
ple: Who should have the final say on the level of
taxes in Oregon? Measure 2 will give Oregonians con
trol of the level of taxes in Oregon and their rate of
increase.
“It is not a ‘tax limitation’ as much as it is a floor
from where the Oregon taxpayers can work from,”
Ray Phillips, a member of the committee that
authored the bill said.
Measure 2 has a provision by which any money for
any service can be approved or turned down. This is
accomplished by a 50 percent voter turnout, and only
three elections since 1964 have failed to meet this
criteria, Phillips said.
H?
College’s board meets,
finalizes
brochure criteria
The first concrete steps by the Board and will appear
toward selecting a new presi in the brochure.
dent were made last night
The Board, which met in an
when Clackamas Community emergency session at 7:30 p.m.
College’s Board of Education in the small dining room of the
I
met to finalize criteria for a College’s cafeteria, had also
College brochure.
intended to finalize its
The brochure was drafted in presidential search pro
order to describe the job cedures, but ran out of time to
qualifications for the next Col do so. A tentative date has
lege president. Copies are been set, Dec. 12, for the
scheduled to be mailed out na Board to come to a decision on
tionwide on Nov. 1.
the members for a screening
A salary of $58,000 plus fr committee.
inge benefits, a minimum
This screening committee
master’s degree for educa was designed to help the Board
tional qualifications and an select possible candidates for
on 2,” bumper sticker and a billboard which understanding and commit the presidency, which will be
ment to the role of a com vacated by current College
happens to be located on Molalla Ave.
munity college were criteria President Dr. John Hakanson
Photo by Joel Miller topics that were agreed upon when he retires in December.
VOTE YES
YES OR NO--Examples of campaign publicity
for and against Ballot Measure 2 include “No
Tax limitations have worked in Washington and
supporters of Measure 2 are confident it will work in
Oregon.
The argument for the opposition to Measure 2 is
that it will cut funding to police, fire, schools and
other social services to an unacceptable level.
Measure 2 will “cut funding for economic develop
ment, cripple the Veterans’ Farm and Home Loan
Program, slash police/fire budgets and services, ma
jor factors in attracting and keeping industry in our
communities; further reduce funding for education
and retraining for Oregon’s work force and virtually
eliminate local government’s ability to bond for
sewers, water and roads »necessities for economic
growth and adequate housing,” Donald J. Connelly,
certified public accountant of Salem, said.
Specific cuts to be made will include the
Clackamas County Sheriff’s Department, the
Clackamas County Police Department and the
Clackamas County Fire Department.
“Measure 2 will require approximately a 42 per
cent funding cut to the Clackamas County Sherriff’s
Department,” Chief Deputy Sheriff Risley Bradshaw
said.
This 42 percent budget cut would mean laying off
between 36-45 people. Of these people, 75-80 percent
would come from the patrol and investigations
department. This is about a third of the patrol
department, Bradshaw said. The budget cuts would
not affect the prison as far as staffing and continued
incarceration of the inmates already there, but it
would have quite an affect on the number of
criminals caught due to the lack of patrolmen.
David Haney, a firefighter with the Oregon City
Fire Department, said out of their 24 full-time
firefighters, at least six would be laid off. The fire
department would also have to decide which calls
were important enough to answer because of the
reduction in staff.