Funding status for
JoCo shocks guests
Inside:
Entertainment
It’s in the Valley!
Page 5
Portland mayor educated on county’s
bleak financial situation at O&C meet
Forum held
Candidates speak
Page 9
By MICHELLE BINKER
IVN Staff Writer
Portland Mayor Tom
Potter visited Grants Pass on
Thursday afternoon, Sept. 18
to meet with local leaders to
discuss the financial crisis
facing many Oregon counties.
Grants Pass Mayor Len
Holzinger hosted the round
table discussion on the loss of
O&C funding, which was
held in the Grants Pass
branch of Josephine County
Library, closed for the past 18
months. The setting, complete
with cobwebs and 18-month-
old periodicals in the foyer
racks, served as a grim re-
minder of services eliminated
during budget cuts.
The 18 people in atten-
dance included Josephine
County Board of Commis-
sioners Chairman Dave
Toler; Rep. Dennis Richard-
son (R-Central Point), Rep.
Ron Maurer (R-Grants Pass);
Sheriff Gil Gilbertson;
“Link” & Jennifer Philippi, of
Rough & Ready Lumber Co.;
Jon Jordan, executive director
Open houses
Evergreen, IVHS
show their stuff
Page 12
LBMS project
SOG, Rotary help
outfit woodworkers
Page 13
IVHS sports
Football &
volleyball photos
Page 14
I.V. Fire tax levy
town hall topic
A levy proposed by Illi-
nois Valley Fire District
(IVFD) to assure full-time,
around-the-clock coverage is
the topic for a town hall
meeting.
It will be held Wednes-
day, Oct. 1 from 7 to 9 p.m.
at the Josephine County Bldg.
in Downtown Cave Junction.
A presentation will be fol-
lowed by open discussion.
IVFD is seeking a five-
year levy of $1.68 per $1,000
assessed valuation.
Funding ODF
for wildfires
to raise fees
By OREGON DEPT.
Of FORESTRY
The fire funding system
needs adjustment.
By definition, wildfire is
unpredictable. But there’s one
sure thing: When a fire burns
in the forest these days, it will
cost more to put out than 20,
10 or even five years ago.
Hotter, drier summers,
rising labor and equipment
costs, build-up of forest fuels
and urban sprawl all factor
into the increase.
The strain on the Oregon
Forest Land Protection Fund
(OFLPF) of more expensive,
and more frequent, large fires
surfaced this June when the
fund managers had to borrow
money from the state treasury
to offset a $5 million deficit
incurred during 2007. The
land owner-financed OFLPF
pays the extra costs of fight-
ing large wildfires such as air
tankers, helicopters and hand
crews.
By law, the loan must be
repaid within a year. To cover
it, the wildfire protection as-
sessment on forest land own-
ers and the surcharge on own-
ers of improved lots in forest
protection districts are being
raised for a 12-month period.
The Oregon Legislature
took steps during the past
session to address the broader
fire-funding problem by pass-
ing House Bill 3044A. Effec-
tive this year, the measure
boosts revenue to the OFLPF
by 25 percent through in-
creases in the:
*Fire protection assess-
ments paid by forest land
owners.
*Tax on timber harvests.
*Surcharge on improved
lots within fire protection
districts.
While the new law will
help, it is just the first step in
a much-needed restructuring
of Oregon’s fire protection
funding system.
During the past three fire
seasons, the Oregon Dept. of
(Continued on page 3)
of the Grants Pass Chamber
of Commerce; Evergreen
Federal Bank President Brady
Adams, and SPARC Enter-
prises representatives.
Toler began by present-
ing an overall picture of the
situation facing the county,
including the many steps
taken to reduce the budget
and make more departments
self-supporting. He also de-
scribed the public safety is-
sues before every Josephine
County voter, facing two
sheriff’s office public safety
ballot items in the Nov. 4
election.
Approximately a quarter
of county residents also will
vote on establishing a county
fire district.
Gilbertson spoke about
how the reduction in county
discretionary spending to little
more than $3 million by July
1, 2009 will affect his office,
which currently cannot pro-
vide 24-hour coverage. Bar-
ring passage of proposed law
enforcement tax districts, pa-
(Continued on page 8)
Federal timber monies
pursued by legislators
A Grape Stomp fund-raiser, hosted by Illi-
nois Valley Chamber of Commerce, was
held Saturday, Sept. 20 at Bridgeview Vine-
yards Winery. (Above) Contestants Ron
Maurer and Rene Eichmann show off their
grape crushing technique and skill; (right)
wine faeries Deni O’Donnell and Ann Padgett
arrived decked out in wings and fruity gar-
lands. (Photos by Michelle Binker, Illinois
Valley News )
Sixth annual
Hope Mountain Barter Faire
Dome School will benefit from the fund-raiser
held Friday through Sunday, Sept. 19 to 21.
Situated on Page Creek Road near Out ’N’
About Treesort, the event featured numerous
booths, children’s activities, food, and a wide
variety of music and other attractions.
(Photos by Linda Corey-Woodward and Zina
Booth for Illinois Valley News )
Two of Oregon’s repre-
sentatives in Washington,
D.C. are pushing for con-
tinuation of federal timber
payments, as without them
counties including Josephine
County will face significant
holes in their budgets.
Additionally, Sen.
Gordon Smith praised the
Senate Finance Committee’s
multiyear extension of county
payments funding that has
been included in a tax extend-
ers package bill.
The legislation is likely
to hit the Senate floor Thurs-
day, Sept. 25. It would reau-
thorize county payments
funding through 2011.
“I am pleased to see that
the Finance Committee has
decided to restore county
payments funding and keep
Oregon’s counties afloat,”
said Smith. “We are
close to the finish line, and
Sen. Wyden and I will work
together to push this critical
funding swiftly into law be-
fore it’s too late.”
Smith, a member of the
Senate Finance Committee,
repeatedly has urged the com-
mittee’s chairman and ranking
member to include a four-year
extension of the county pay-
ments funding, totaling ap-
proximately $3.3 billion in the
energy tax package.
Josephine County has
been receiving some $12 mil-
lion per year from the timber
funding.
Fourth District Congress-
man Peter DeFazio (D-
Springfield), with 28 mem-
bers of Congress, sent a letter
to House Speaker Nancy Pe-
losi calling on her to include
critical county payments
funding in the coming con-
tinuing resolution that leader-
ship is considering.
And 2nd District Con-
gressman Greg Walden (R-
Ore.) has launched an effort to
convince House leadership to
include a one-year extension
of the county timber payments
program in the continuing
resolution (CR) that Congress
must pass before Wednesday,
Oct. 1 to keep the federal gov-
ernment running.
“It is crucial that county
payments be included in the
continuing resolution,” De-
Fazio said. “Counties in
Southwest Oregon have al-
ready laid off employees by
the hundreds into a bad econ-
omy -- we’ve lost sheriff’s
patrols, jail beds, teachers and
other vital public services.
It is critical that something be
done now.
“Curry and Josephine
counties could go bankrupt if
the funding isn’t extended,”
DeFazio said.
He is pursuing a one-year
Secure Rural Schools reau-
thorization in the Continuing
Resolution as insurance to
ensure an extension of the
program. The Senate is work-
ing on a multiyear reauthori-
zation of Secure Rural
Schools as part of a broad
renewable energy tax incen-
tives package, but has yet to
approve that legislation
or send it to the House for
consideration.
Because the Senate
legislation may not become
law, whereas the Continuing
Resolution must be passed by
Congress in order to keep the
federal government and
essential programs operating,
it is prudent to seek inclusion
of the one-year reauthoriza-
tion in the must-pass spend-
ing bill, said DeFazio.
He supports the Senate
measure, and eagerly antici-
pates its consideration in the
House. The Secure Rural
Schools Act expired in
2006. Last year, the Democ-
ratic Congress gave counties
a one-year extension while
DeFazio continued to work
on a longer-term solution.
The county payments
program provides nearly
$280 million a year to 33
Oregon counties for services
including schools, roads and
law enforcement. Counties
receiving funding under the
program have a high propor-
tion of federally owned lands.
Prior to enactment of the
county payments program,
they had received a percent-
age of receipts from timber
harvests, which fluctuated
from year-to-year.
(Continued on page 3)