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Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, OR Wednesday, February 23, 2005
Ginni Rose Lyles, a senior at Illinois Valley High
School, is February Student of the Month, selected by Kerby
Belt Lodge AF&AM.
She is the
daughter of Ran-
dell Lyles, and has
maintained
a
grade-point aver-
age of 3.65.
Lyles is a mem-
ber of the mock
trial team, College
Dreams,
IVHS
Chapter of the Na-
tional Honor Soci-
ety, Passages, and
the cheerleading
squad.
She also takes
stats for the boys
GINNI ROSE LYLES
basketball team.
She has earned her
CIM certificate, and has received three College Dreams
scholarship awards.
After graduation, Lyles will attend Southern Oregon
University in Ashland, and then travel abroad.
Measure 37 reimbursing
noted by OSU economist
Since the passage of
Measure 37 in November,
Oregon government offi-
cials have been grappling
with its implementation in
cities and counties.
The ballot measure en-
ables land owners to seek
compensation when their
property values are reduced
by land-use regulations.
But how should that
compensation be calculated?
“The text of the meas-
ure says that compensation
should equal the reduction
in the fair market value of
the property,” said Andrew
Plantinga, an economist at
Oregon State University
(OSU) at Corvallis.
“This sounds simple
enough. It isn’t,” he said.
Plantinga is a professor
in OSU’s Dept. of Agricul-
tural and Resource Econom-
ics, and a researcher with
Oregon’s Agricultural Ex-
periment Station. He has
just completed a study ex-
amining ways to calculate
compensation for land own-
ers affected by Oregon’s
historic land-use laws.
The measure requires
city, county and state gov-
ernments to either compen-
sate land owners, if land-use
regulations lowered their
property values, or waive
the regulations. Gov. Kulon-
goski has said that he prefers
compensation rather than
waiving.
But Measure 37 does
not precisely define how
compensation will be calcu-
lated, leaving government
officials with many possible
ways to interpret the meas-
ure, according to Plantinga.
Under the measure, land
owners can claim compen-
sation for the reduction in
fair market value, which
equals the difference be-
tween the property’s value
with and without the land-
use regulation.
“We know the value
with the regulation in place,
because that’s the current
market value,” Plantinga
said. “But the value without
regulation is hypothetical.”
Estimating such hypo-
thetical values poses many
challenges, Plantinga said.
“Suppose we were to
calculate the fair-market
value for a parcel of land
assuming it has no develop-
ment restrictions,” Plantinga
said.
“Do we assume restric-
tions still apply to all other
parcels?” he asked.
“This treats one land
owner like a monopolist
with exclusive development
rights and allows that land
owner to receive higher
compensation because the
restriction is still imposed
on others.
“We should, instead,
treat the land owner like a
participant in a competitive
market,” Plantinga said. “In
this case, we would calcu-
late the value of the parcel
assuming the land-use regu-
lations do not apply any-
where.”
In the hypothetical
world without regulations,
that single parcel would be
one of many that could be
developed, said Plantinga.
Competition would
drive down its value for de-
velopment, and only unique
advantages, such as loca-
tion, would increase its
value compared to many
others on the market.
“But developing com-
pensation schedules for such
hypothetical markets would
be a challenging and time-
consuming undertaking,” he
added.
As an alternative, Plant-
inga notes that the original
purchase price, adjusted to
current dollar value, indi-
cates the actual competitive
market value of the parcel of
land before the regulation
went into effect.
Because Measure 37
provides compensation only
to individuals who acquired
their property before the
land-use laws were enacted,
the price they paid reflects a
competitive market without
regulations.
The difference between
the original price and the
current market value with
the regulation in places
equals the reduction in fair
market value. The consumer
price index can be used to
convert the dollar price paid
to the current dollar value.
The advantage of this
approach is that it relies on
observable, rather than hy-
pothetical, values. However,
Plantinga points out that in
some cases the original pur-
chase price of the land
would need to be separated
from other assets, such as
farm equipment, that may
have been included in the
original transaction.
In whatever way com-
pensation will be eventually
calculated under Measure
37, Plantinga points out that
this process is fundamen-
tally different from a taking,
where compensation equals
the full current fair-market
value of the land.
“In a taking, the land is
no longer owned by the land
owner,” Plantinga said.
“Under Measure 37, land
owners still own their land
and have full entitlement to
earn income from all per-
mitted uses,” he said.
The study can be
viewed in its entirety at
arec.oregonstate.edu/
faculty2/plantinga.htm.
Girls at 9-2
in Skyline
title race
Illinois Valley varsity
girls will be looking for vic-
tory in the final basketball
game of the season, as
they’re tied 9-2 for the Sky-
line District title.
The Cougar girls and
Phoenix have identical won-
lost records after the games
played Friday, Feb. 18.
I.V. was to play Ma-
zama in Klamath Falls
Tuesday night, Feb. 22. On
the same night, Phoenix
was to play Hidden Valley
(6-5) in Grants Pass.
I.V. girls went to 8-2
following their game vs.
Henley on Tuesday, Feb. 15,
as the Hornets won in a
squeaker, 54-53.
The Cougars outscored
Henley in every quarter but
the first. Then with 13 sec-
onds on the clock, I.V.’s
Sheena Cole delivered a 3-
pointer, getting the Cougs
within 1 point.
But the girls couldn’t
convert a rebound of a Hor-
net foul line shot, and time
ran out.
I.V. was led by Serena
Barry and Sarah Houston,
who each scored 12 points.
The Cougars roared
back to 9-2 with a huge 64-
26 clobbering of Hidden
Valley in Ken Mann Memo-
rial Gym on Friday, Feb. 18.
The ninth-ranked Cougs
scored nearly at will, notch-
ing 15 team assists. Four
each were recorded by
Emily Dudley, Barry and
Erika Riley.
Barry also was good for
17 points, including five of
six 3-pointers. Cole added
19 points, and Houston con-
tributed 18.
With a 64-26 drubbing of
Hidden Valley in Ken
Mann Memorial Gym Fri-
day night, Feb. 18, the
Illinois Valley varsity
girls moved into a tie for
first place in the Skyline
Conference. In bottom
photo seniors were rec-
ognized for their last
home game appear-
ances. (From left in uni-
forms) Players Serena
Barry and Kirsten Wood
with their moms, and
statistician Chelsea
Hocker, and (getting a
hug) Janie Pope, athletic
activities director. They
received flowers for their
efforts.
(Photos by Dale
Sandberg)
Boys battle
Cougar boys varsity
basketball team took its
Skyline Conference record
to 0-11 with two more
losses last week.
On Tuesday, the Cou-
gars were stung 50-28 by
the Henley Hornets, who
went into the game in Ken
Mann Memorial Gym 5-5.
I.V. had a 17-15 lead at
the half, but Henley returned
with 35 points in the second
half to take the victory.
I.V.’s Kalen Snook
scored 12 points.
The conference-leading
Hidden Valley Mustangs,
who have an unbreakable
grip on the Skyline title,
kicked the Cougs 76-39 in
Murphy on Friday, Feb. 18.
The victory gave the Mus-
tangs an 11-0 record. The
closest team is 9-3 North
Valley.
Snook led scoring with
16 points in the loss to HV.
Mazama (3-8) was to
play I.V. in Ken Mann Me-
morial Gym on Tuesday,
Feb. 22 in the final game of
the season.
CofC sets ...
(Continued from page 1)
ment for a number of valley
residents. Their support of
various valley programs also
was noted.
Taylor’s Sausage Coun-
try Store was voted 2003
outstanding business by
chamber directors. The
nomination included the
notation that the new, attrac-
tive store in Downtown
Cave Junction is an asset,
and that it also provides
wholesome entertainment
and food for all ages, plus
employment and support to
valley groups.
Advertising in the
‘Noose’ reaches
the valley. And beyond!
Personal property reports due March 1
All businesses are re-
quired to file a Confidential
Personal Property Return
with the Josephine County
Assessor’s Office each year
to report all taxable personal
property in their possession
as of Jan. 1 at 1 a.m.
The filing deadline for
returns is March 1. An ex-
tension to file may be
granted “for good and suffi-
cient cause.”
In Oregon, personal
property being used by a
business is taxable. Exam-
ples of taxable personal
property include machinery,
equipment, furniture, fix-
tures and furnishings, tools,
noninventory supplies and
professional libraries in use
or available for use by the
business.
Property held in storage,
or that has been previously
expensed on federal income
tax business returns, remains
taxable and should be re-
ported.
Prior to Dec. 31, blank
returns were mailed by the
assessor to all known busi-
nesses. However, failure to
receive the form does not
relieve business owners of
the obligation of filing.
“If you are a business
and did not receive a return,
contact us,” said the asses-
sor’s office.
It added, “If your busi-
ness has personal property
in multiple locations in the
county, returns must be filed
for each location.
“In addition, if your
business has personal prop-
erty in more than one
county, you must submit a
separate return in each
county,” said the assessor.
Penalties are assessed
for failure to file a return
and for late filings. The pen-
alty can be as much as 50
percent of the tax owed.
Business owners with
questions can contact the
assessor’s office in the
county courthouse in Down-
town Grants Pass, or phone
474-5260.
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