Page 13
Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, OR Wednesday, October 17, 2007
State rating
for finance
improved
Commissioner Dave Toler addresses crowd. (Photo by Michelle Binker, IVN)
Options explored to aid county funding
Commissioners conduct public forum for Illinois Valley to outline ideas
By MICHELLE BINKER
IVN Staff Writer
Josephine County com-
missioners and other elected
officials held an informa-
tional meeting in Cave Junc-
tion Thursday night, Oct. 11
to discuss possible loss of
federal safety net funds.
Commissioners Dwight
Ellis, Jim Raffenburg and
Dave Toler; District Attor-
ney Steve Campbell, Sheriff
Gil Gilbertson, John Harrle-
son, county treasurer, and
some 60 citizens attended
the meeting at Lorna Byrne
Middle School.
Toler outlined the situa-
tion facing the county, and
presented some of the op-
tions available.
“We’re going all over
the county to talk about how
to address the issue of losing
safety net funding,” Toler
said.
The 30-minute presen-
tation is titled, “Insuring Our
Future: Options to Replace
Federal Safety Net O&C
Funding.” It touched on the
historical prominence of
O&C timber revenues and
subsequent safety net mon-
ies for county funding.
As result, Josephine
County has the lowest per-
manent property tax rate in
Oregon. Approximately $6
per month is median as-
sessed value.
Without replacement of
Secure Rural Schools and
Community
Self-
Determination Act funds, 64
percent of the county’s gen-
eral fund will be lost, Toler
said.
Many ideas which had
been brought to the commis-
sioners were outlined.
Some, such as an income
tax, are not legally viable
options for the county by
state statute or county char-
ter. Some legally viable op-
tions, such as a gasoline or
bed taxes, were limited by
how funds could be used.
Among the options seen
as most useful are two ver-
sions of a property tax levy,
formation of two criminal
justice tax districts, or a 2
percent consumption tax.
The larger, three-year
tax levy, approximately
$2.49 per $1,000 assessed
value, would fully replace
the O&C funds. The other
option, a two-year, $1.25
per $1,000 assessed value
plan, would require spend-
ing all the county’s reserves
to make up the budget.
A 2 percent consump-
tion tax on all retail sales
would raise an estimated
$17.6 million. Trading one
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tax for another, Toler said,
would result in property
taxes decreasing under this
option, and county services
would be fully funded.
“At this point we have
no position on any of these,”
Toler said. “We are present-
ing these options to you.
We’re hoping you will help
us decide which direction
we should go, should we
need to go in that direction.”
Other than one brief
exchange, there were no
temper flares; the crowd
was attentive and polite.
Through cost-cutting
and instituting user fees, the
county has managed to save
some $9.2 million, Toler
indicated. Fewer county
employees, reduced em-
ployee costs and transfer of
some programs have con-
tributed to the savings.
Toler stated that the
planning department, fair-
grounds and parks are now
self-sufficient, independent
of the general fund, due to
user fees.
Severe reductions in the
criminal justice system are
expected if county funding
is not reinstated.
“We know the safety
net funding is going away,”
Toler said. “The question is,
‘When’?”
Orthotics gain
notes devices
According to the
American Orthotic & Pros-
thetic Association, between
2003 and 2005 the total
Medicare expenditures for
orthotic and prosthetic care
declined while the number
of devices provided to pa-
tients increased. For more
information,
visit
www.AOPAnet.org.
(NAPSA)
Wall Street now is rec-
ognizing the state’s extended
efforts to get its financial
house in order, State Treas-
urer Randall Edwards told
Oregon legislators during a
joint meeting of the House
and Senate Revenue Com-
mittees.
The treasurer delivered
the good news that the
nation’s three credit rating
agencies had upgraded or
modified their outlook on
Oregon’s bonds.
Moody's Investors Ser-
vices raised the state’s $4.3
billion in general obligation
bond rating to Aa2 from
Aa3. Standard & Poor’s
followed by upgrading its
rating to AA from AA-. And
Fitch Ratings changed its
assessment of Oregon bonds
to a “positive outlook.”
Edwards said that the
credit rating upgrades are
the fruit of a unified effort,
including state pension man-
agers, the treasurer’s staff,
the governor, and the
Legislature.
“Receiving these rating
upgrades is a tremendous
accomplishment considering
the financial crisis we
weathered just five years
ago,” said Edwards. “It is
something in which all Ore-
gonians should take pride.”
Moody’s and Standard
& Poor cited multiple rea-
sons for the upgrades
of the state’s credit rating,
including:
*The state’s strong fi-
nancial controol.
*The Rainy Day Fund
established through a tem-
porary suspension of the
corporate kicker.
*Favorable funding
ratios in the state’s retire-
ment system.
*The state’s manage-
able debt burden.
Oregon also received
upgrades for its certificates
of participation and
the Oregon School Bond
Guaranty program, which
will reduce the interest
cost on bonds sold by state
school districts.
While the state treasurer
believes that all who con-
tributed to the bond up-
grades deserve to celebrate,
he noted that the rating
agencies still are concerned
about Oregon’s tax structure
and political climate. The
agencies’ financial analysis
reports expressed unease
regarding the state’s unusu-
ally high reliance on the
volatile personal income tax,
the personal and corporate
“kickers,” and an active
voter-initiative process.
FREE
A pond is being dug off Rockydale (Photo by I.V. News)
Pond by Barlow permitted
(Continued from page 9)
the operation is in fact a
mining operation.
There also have been
unsubstantiated allegations
of threats and intimidation
attempts on both sides of the
issue.
A recent trip to the site
by I.V. News seems to sub-
stantiate Barlow’s claim that
it is only digging a large
pond adjacent to an alfalfa
field. (see photo). But Toler
said that another planning
meeting is scheduled for
Thursday, Oct. 18 at 10:30
a.m. at which time he says
he will have questions for
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