JUNE 5, 2015, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A3
No fi ght over city budget Three critically
injured in crash
By CRAIG MURPHY
Of the Keizertimes
Just like that, a $40 million
budget was approved.
Keizer City Councilors
had nine public hearings on
Monday evening, most of
which didn’t take much time.
That was true of the last
one, which concerned the
Fiscal Year 2015-16 budget.
Councilors made up half
of the Keizer Budget Com-
mittee, which met three times
last month to go over the
budget. Several minor tweaks
were made to the budget in
light of those meetings, which
assistant controller Tim Wood
went over on Monday.
By the time councilors
opened the hearing for the
budget, there were no audi-
ence members aside from the
Keizertimes, thus the hearing
was closed.
“It’s remarkable,” Mayor
Cathy Clark said.
That was the lone com-
ment made before councilors
unanimously approved the
$40,066,500 budget. Per usu-
al, the general fund took up
the biggest chunk of the bud-
get with $10,332,900. Of that,
$6,523,200 was for police.
The sewer fund totaled
$5,604,500 while the ad-
ministrative services fund was
$3,637,800. Other large funds
include the water fund ($2.9
million), the street fund ($2.6
million), the transportation
improvement fund ($2.2 mil-
lion), the Keizer Station LID
fund ($1.7 million) and the
stormwater fund ($1.6 mil-
lion).
Clark gave compliments.
“Well done to our fi nance
staff, (city manager) Chris Ep-
pley and the staff,” the mayor
said. “You brought us a budget
that was easy to understand.”
Councilor Brandon Smith,
who apologized for missing
the budget process while in
Europe, noted he had tried
to fi nd more funding for the
parks matching grant pro-
gram, which he started last
year while chairing the Parks
and Recreation Advisory
Board.
“I promised I would try to
fi nd more for parks,” Smith
said. “I couldn’t justify what
was already done.”
Clark has been going
through the budget process
since 2002, while this year was
the fi rst for councilors Amy
Ripp and Roland Herrera.
“It was very educational,”
Ripp said. “It was a wonderful
learning opportunity. We did
our due diligence, to make
sure we knew what we were
approving.”
Ripp noted trying to fi nd
small amounts of money for
particular programs proved
diffi cult.
“It was entertaining trying
to fi nd the money,” Ripp said.
“I wasn’t afraid to push for
what I felt strongly for. It was
a little overwhelming. It was a
Forest Fair at CCC June 20
The Oregon Forest Fair
is returning this month to
Chemeketa Community Col-
lege.
The event, taking place
from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on June
20, was held at Chemeketa 10
years. It’s been held every year
since, but this is the fi rst time
back at Chemeketa.
The expo and educational
event is free and open to the
public. There will be dozens
of exhibits representing a wide
range of forest products and
services, including four educa-
tional panel presentations.
The event is put on by the
Oregon Small Woodlands As-
sociation. For more informa-
tion, visit www.oswa.org or
call Gene and Lynnette Hen-
shaw at 503-623-5759.
When the event was last at
CCC, Gene Henshaw noted
about 750 people attended.
He expects between that many
and 1,000 people this year.
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• David Bruce Barrett,
84, passed away on May 21.
There will be no services held
at this time. Arrangements are
being handled by Keizer Fu-
neral Chapel.
• John Sanford, 84, passed
away on May 23. A celebra-
tion of life will be held Thurs-
day, June 11 at 3 p.m. at the
Keizer Elks Lodge. Arrange-
ments are being handled by
Keizer Funeral Chapel.
By CRAIG MURPHY
Of the Keizertimes
The Keizer Urban Renew-
al Agency has been closed.
The URA board – the
Keizer City Councilors plus
the mayor – met on Monday
and approved a resolution to
close the agency as well as
the North River Road Urban
Renewal Plan.
Such action was approved
during the May 12 Budget
Committee meeting, with
formal closure to take place
during the June 15 council
meeting.
According to Monday’s res-
olution, councilors approved
the Urban Renewal Plan in
September 1990. The plan was
amended several times over
the years, with the ninth and
fi nal amendment being ad-
opted in February 2012.
Susan Gahlsdorf, Finance
director for Keizer, said re-
maining there is still money
in the Program Income Fund
that will not be used by the
end of this fi scal year. These
funds can be used to repay
taxing jurisdictions. Gahlsdorf
told the Keizertimes on Mon-
day closing the district means
a couple of things.
“The most signifi cant
change is that tax revenue that
was previously going to the
Urban Renewal District will
now go to the other jurisdic-
tions; this will increase their
future property tax revenues
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big elephant to chew, one bite
at a time.”
Ripp estimated she easily
put in 80 hours reading, re-
searching and meeting with
Clark and others to get up to
speed on the budget, in addi-
tion to the meetings.
“We put so much effort in
during the process,” she said.
“After all the time spent in
the budget committee, there’s
nothing left to discuss. You’re
already done all of the work.”
Clark was pleased with the
fi nal product approved on
Monday.
“I am so proud of the
councilors and the commu-
nity volunteers,” said Clark,
who became mayor in Janu-
ary. “Everyone brought their
‘A’ game.”
Clark noted staff did “a
lot” of prep work to bring
the budget to the committee,
which she felt represented a
broad section of Keizer.
“That diversity added to
the conversation,” Clark said.
“We represented the commu-
nity well. Plus people really
focused on the issues. There
was never a hint of personal
debates. The result is a better
outcome. If you feel safe to
have those conversations, ev-
eryone wins.”
Ripp and Clark also both
liked the transparency and
ease for citizens to fi nd copies
of the budget.
“People watching at home
could follow along,” Clark
said. “They knew what page
we were on.”
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received from Marion Coun-
ty,” Gahlsdorf said. “In addi-
tion the city will repay each of
the overlapping tax jurisdic-
tions, except the Salem-Keizer
School District and the City
of Keizer, in accordance with
the interagency agreements.
Repayments will include the
property tax revenues fore-
gone during fi scal year 2014-
15 plus interest. Payments are
expected to be distributed
within the next few months.”
Gahlsdorf said the pay-
ments will primarily come
from the city’s general fund.
“These disbursements will
represent full repayment of all
amounts owed to these juris-
dictions as provided for in the
interagency agreements,” she
said.
The city did not enter into
a reimbursement agreement
with the Urban Renewal Dis-
trict, while the school district
did.
“The Salem-Keizer School
District has different terms set
in its interagency agreement
which calls for an annual pay-
ment over 10 years and repay-
ment amounts do not accrue
interest,” Gahlsdorf said. “Fur-
thermore, the amount owed
to Salem-Keizer School Dis-
trict is signifi cantly more than
amounts due the other juris-
dictions and it will take the
full 10 years to repay them un-
less another source of revenue
is identifi ed. Repayments are
expected to come out of the
city’s general fund.”
A potential source of rev-
enue could come if the Raw-
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lins family repurchases its
property in Keizer Station.
“If the Rawlins family ex-
ercises their option to pur-
chase the foreclosed land, it
will be a council decision on
how to use the proceeds,”
Gahlsdorf said. “A portion of
the proceeds could be used
to pay the debt owed to the
Salem-Keizer School District.
A portion could be used for
projects on River Road and
a portion could go into the
city’s general fund.”
Tim Wood, assistant con-
troller for the city, previously
noted the cost savings of clos-
ing the district.
“Closing the district one
year earlier than originally an-
ticipated will save the city ap-
proximately $25,000 in addi-
tional interest expense,” Wood
said at the May 12 meeting.
Monday’s resolution in-
cluded an appropriations
transfer of $51,700 from the
capital outlay fund to the
materials and services fund.
The resolution was approved
unanimously.
“This has been a great thing
for the City of Keizer,” said
councilor and former mayor
Dennis Koho, who fi rst joined
council shortly after the dis-
trict was formed. “We’ve done
some wonderful things with it.
But all good things must come
to an end.”
Mayor Cathy Clark echoed
that sentiment.
“I’m proud we had proj-
ects, we got them done in a
responsible manner and all can
enjoy the benefi ts,” Clark said.
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Three people were critically
injured when a Keizer
woman caused a crash last
Saturday, May 30. According
to the Marion County
Sheriff’s Offi ce, Melissa
Aicher was driving home
from the Woodburn Drag
Strip with her 8-year-old
son on Highway 219 when
she didn’t stop at a stop
sign at French Prairie Road
NE and Mahoney Road NE.
She collided with an elderly
couple from Newberg. That
couple was taken to Oregon
Health and Science University
(OHSU) via LifeFlight, while
Aicher’s son was taken there
by ambulance. All three were
listed in critical condition,
while Aicher was treated
and released from Salem
Hospital. Alcohol may have
been a factor.