SINCE 1979 • VOLUME 38, NO. 15
SECTION A
JANUARY 13, 2017
M A DA M
$1.00
AMBASSADOR
Keizer teen named state’s MDA rep
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
Two years ago, Allison
Reetz underwent three op-
erations that had family and
friends fearing for her life.
Allison, who was 13 years
old at the time, chose not to
know about the worst possible
outcomes, which included not
surviving the procedures.
“I just wanted to live my
life. If I’d known, I would have
freaked out,” Allison said.
Fortunately, the now-15-
year-old made it through the
operations and was recently
named the southwest Wash-
ington and Oregon state
ambassador for the Muscu-
lar Dystrophy Association
(MDA). She served as the
Marion County ambassador
in 2016.
“I went to the Fill the Boot
Boot Camp and the Salem,
Marion County and Keizer
Fill the Boot events last year. I
went to the Muscle Walk and
tried to make it to every event
in the area. It’s pretty much
the same thing with state, but
on a higher level,” Allison said.
The highlight event this
time around will be delivering
a speech kicking of the 2017
Muscle Walk.
Allison was diagnosed with
mitochondrial
myopathy
complex I defi ciency at the
age of two, but her mother,
Elizabeth, said signs of a prob-
lem were evident from birth.
Please see MDA, Page A3
Allison Reetz
Tax vs. fee
How should a parks
surcharge be classifi ed?
?
Is it a
tax
Is the charge imposed
by the government?
No
Yes
NOT
A TAX
What is the primary
purpose of the charge?
Recoup Behavior
Raise
Revenue costs of
providing
service to
the payer
Fee
Penalty
NOT A TAX
Is revenue used for
general purposes or
dedicated purposes?
General
purposes
Dedicated
purposes
Could be TAX
or ‘USER TAX’
or FEE
TAX
To determine, look
how closely related
the payment of the
charge is to the
benefi ts of the user.
Source: taxfoundation.org
KEIZERTIMES /Andrew Jackson
Keizer
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
Scott Klug, a member of
the Keizer Parks and Recre-
ation Advisory Board, initial-
ly balked at the idea of adding
a fee to Keizer residents’ util-
ity bill to support city parks.
He was most concerned
about implementing a fee
without asking residents
whether they supported it
fi rst, but he also found fault
in the term “fee.”
“You can call it a fee, but
any time you ask someone
to pay something they don’t
want to pay, it’s a tax,” Klug
said.
While that might be how
it feels, there is precedent for
what is deemed a tax vs. a fee.
It’s also true that Oregon is
one of only two states that
haven’t adopted offi cial defi -
nitions of the two.
“A tax has the primary
purpose of raising revenue,”
said Joseph Henchman, Tax
Foundation vice president of
legal projects, and author of
a 2013 study looking at the
issues surrounding fees and
taxes. “By contrast, a fee re-
coups the cost of providing a
service from a benefi ciary.”
It’s also more than a differ-
ence of terminology. Many
states include in their consti-
tutions steps for enacting tax-
es and limitations on increas-
es. Fees can be enacted more
freely, which is one reason the
city council can implement a
dedicated parks fee without a
vote of residents.
A fee is a charge imposed
for the primary purpose of
recouping costs incurred
while providing a service to
the payer. Taxes and fees are
also different from a penalty,
which has the primary pur-
pose of punishing behavior.
Only Oregon and North
Carolina, at the time of the
study, hadn’t adopted legal
defi nitions of the two. More-
over, Oregon is the only state
without a rule to resolve any
ambiguities in favor of the
taxpayer.
It’s also a misconception
that taxes are “mandatory”
while fees are “voluntary.”
Both need to be paid and
government agencies can
seek legal remedies to collect
on balances.
All of this comes into play
when discussing a potential
fee to create a dedicated fund
for Keizer parks. Because the
city cannot raise property
taxes - ballot measures passed
in the 1990s locked in the
rates – fees are one of essen-
tially three options, and the
only one that might ensure a
degree of sustainability with-
out creating additional costs.
If the revenues generated
by the fee fell into the city’s
general fund for the coun-
cil to use for any purpose, it
would be considered a hard-
line tax.
Please see TAX, Page A7
Parks fee
collection
method
takes fire
PAGE A2
AVID open
house
PAGE A5
Keizer native competes
on Steve Austin show
cookie cutter formula made
By ERIC A. HOWALD
to sell magazines,” Dent said.
Of the Keizertimes
Keizer native Natalie “I think it was my inner ath-
Dent’s journey to fi tness lete that was drawn to Cross-
began in an unusual place: Fit. It was a new challenge
receiving tickets to see The and always changing. I loved
that it's you against you, and
Nutcracker ballet.
“I was so blown away by you can see measurable re-
sults
very
how strong
fast.”
and power-
She’s since
ful these bal-
become
a
lerinas were.
Crossfi t train-
They weren’t
er and com-
just up there
petes regu-
to
look
larly in the
pretty, they
circuit around
were strong.
her home in
I
remem-
— Natalie Dent
Oceanside,
ber thinking
Calif., and in
‘There is no
reason that I can’t be that places farther fl ung.
Her travels recently land-
strong,’” she said.
Until that point, about ed the 33-year-old a spot on
eight years ago, Dent had Steve Austin’s Broken Skull
tried the workouts she found Challenge. The former WWE
in magazines, but they always champion and pro wrestler
hosts the CMT show that
left her feeling empty.
“They were all just a Please see TOUGH, Page A7
“You really did
feel like he
was rooting
for you.”
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Carjacking
suspect
detained by
samaritans
PAGE A6
Celtic
swimmers
sink West
PAGE A10