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2A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, AUGUST 17, 2015 6RPHWD[FUHGLWVHOOHUVDOORZHGWRÀRXWSULFLQJUXOHV &RQÀLFWLQJDGYLFH By HILLARY BORRUD Capital Bureau could cost the state up to $968.1 million in tax revenue, including $703.6 million from tax credits that were sold by recipients to investors, according to an anal- ysis of Department of Energy data. The EO Media Group/Pam- plin Media Group Capital Bu- UHDX ¿UVW UHSRUWHG LQ -XQH WKDW the Oregon Department of En- ergy quietly stopped enforcing pricing and other rules on the state tax credits. When people questioned the policy, the De- partment of Energy responded with a temporary rule change to retroactively eliminate price rules going back to mid-2012. The temporary rule change, which the department plans to make permanent, would reward people who sold tax credits at deeper discounts than allowed under state rules. It would not help people such as Mel Rum- well, who was told by a state employee that he had to follow the rules. Rumwell is president of the Rock Creek Community $VVRFLDWLRQ ZKLFK TXDOL¿HG for a business energy tax credit E\LQVWDOOLQJDQHQHUJ\HI¿FLHQW roof. They had help from staff at the Oregon Department of En- State regulators allowed ergy, where employees gave some sellers of Oregon energy RXW FRQÀLFWLQJ DGYLFH RYHU WKH tax credits to offer buyers deep years. Some employees told discounts while forcing others to energy project owners they had follow strict state pricing rules. to follow state price guidelines As a result, those not follow- required in statute. At the same ing the rules were able to more time, another employee told easily sell their credits, and their project owners they could ig- buyers realized greater value for nore that section of state law. their investment, while those The Department of Ener- following the rules were at a gy also stopped verifying how competitive disadvantage. much corporations and wealthy The state offers the tax cred- individuals paid to purchase the its to government and private tax credits, despite evidence that organizations to help offset the brokers and project owners were FRVWRIHI¿FLHQF\DQGUHQHZDEOH looking for loopholes in state energy projects. Recipients can pricing regulations. use the credits to reduce their In one case, this resulted in taxes, or sell them to raise cap- the Portland metropolitan area ital. transit agency TriMet selling Oregon lawmakers have tax credits with a face value of tried repeatedly to rein in the $3.6 million for $2.7 million, or costly incentives, with bills to 75 cents on the dollar instead of reduce the cost of the program the 98 cents required under the and control the price at which rules. The deeper the discount, the credits could be sold to in- the less money went to the re- vestors. QHZDEOH HQHUJ\ DQG HI¿FLHQF\ But a group of tax credit re- projects the tax incentives were cipients and brokers set out to supposed to reward. ¿QGZD\VWRFLUFXPYHQWWKHP Business energy tax credits issued between 2006 and 2014 ACCUWEATHER ® FORECAST FOR ASTORIA Astoria 5-Day Forecast Tonight Mainly clear 54° Tuesday Oregon Weather Shown is tomorrow’s weather. Temperatures are tonight’s lows and tomorrow’s highs The Dalles 60/99 Astoria 54/83 Portland 60/98 Corvallis 53/100 Eugene 54/99 Pendleton 56/91 Salem 58/99 Albany 56/99 Wednesday Burns 43/90 Medford 60/105 Nice with abundant sunshine 83° 57° Thursday Not as warm with times of clouds and sun 75° 56° Partial sunshine 70° 54° Almanac Sun and Moon Astoria through Sunday. Temperatures High ........................................... 72° Low ............................................ 50° Normal high ............................... 69° Normal low ................................. 53° Precipitation Yesterday ................................ 0.00" Month to date .......................... 0.09" Normal month to date ............. 0.46" Year to date ........................... 27.87" Normal year to date .............. 37.40" Sunset tonight .................. Sunrise Tuesday .............. Moonrise today ................ Moonset today ................. Regional Cities City Baker City Bend Brookings Eugene Ilwaco Klamath Falls Medford Newport North Bend Today Hi Lo W 82 40 s 84 50 s 79 59 s 91 54 s 70 58 s 90 48 s 99 60 s 66 51 s 69 54 s 8:22 p.m. 6:18 a.m. 9:22 a.m. 9:39 p.m. First Full Last New Aug 22 Aug 29 Sep 5 Sep 12 City Olympia Pendleton Portland Roseburg Salem Seaside Spokane Vancouver Yakima Today Hi Lo W 83 49 s 87 56 s 88 60 s 93 59 s 90 58 s 73 54 s 84 59 s 88 57 s 92 55 s Tues. Hi Lo W 90 53 s 91 60 s 98 65 s 102 62 s 99 62 s 78 56 s 87 60 s 97 62 s 94 56 s Tonight's Sky: Ursa Major is above the north- west horizon before midnight. Source: Jim Todd, OMSI Tomorrow’s Tides Time 10:18 a.m. 10:47 p.m. Low 0.3 ft. 1.0 ft. Tomorrow’s National Weather Tues. Hi Lo W 84 71 t 88 70 s 82 69 c 75 49 t 75 60 t 84 70 t 101 77 s 59 50 sh 89 75 sh 85 69 pc 75 58 t 107 79 s 83 66 pc 86 73 t 91 79 t 80 71 t 89 78 t 92 74 s 88 66 t 94 74 t 89 71 t 84 59 s 76 61 pc 87 62 s 92 75 t the Warrenton Soccer Com- plex. The Lower Columbia ³:HXVH¿VKLQJQHWVIRURXU Youth Soccer Association is soccer nets. It’s kind of unique,” looking for volunteers with said Fergus Loughran, the asso- H[SHULHQFH PHQGLQJ ¿VKLQJ ciation’s director of coaching. nets to help repair netting at Loughran said they hope to have the repairs completed be- fore Labor Day weekend. Those interested in assisting may call Loughran at 503-816- 7979 or Jerry Boisvert, LCYSA ¿HOG PDLQWHQDQFH PDQDJHU DW 503-298-7987. Deaths Astoria / Port Docks Time High 4:03 a.m. 7.3 ft. 4:32 p.m. 7.7 ft. you are contemplating nor will we issue tax advice on whether that side transaction might be a taxable transaction for your partner,” Bock wrote. “What- ever side arrangement you are contemplating with a partner is something over which we have no control. I hope that helps.” Salem-Keizer Transit did not proceed with the deal, and has not sold the tax credits. In June 2014, a different tax credit broker, Blue Tree Strat- egies, pitched a similar deal to TriMet, which had $3.6 million in energy tax credits. Instead of sending the rebates directly to the buyers, however, Blue Tree Strategies proposed that TriMet hide the payments in the broker’s commission. Blue Tree Strategies would then send most of the commission — more than $770,000 — to the tax credit buyers. This would reduce the net price of the tax credits from 95 to 98 cents on the dollar, as required under state rules, to an average of 75 cents on the dollar, according to Blue Tree Strategies’ proposal. 7UL0HWRI¿FLDOVZHUHXQFRP fortable with the idea, and Blue Tree Strategies’ owner Aaron Berg asked Buckley in an Oct. HPDLOLIKHZRXOG¿HOG questions from TriMet and other Blue Tree Strategies clients . Berg provided a copy of Buckley’s answer to the EO Media Group/ Pamplin Media Group Capital Bureau. Buckley, who oversees the agency’s tax incentive, energy grant and loan programs, agreed to Berg’s request. Although TriMet never went through with the rebate, the tran- sit agency sold its credits at the same steep discount of 75 cents on the dollar earlier this year. TriMet and the buyers waited to complete paperwork until after the Department of Energy’s tem- porary rule change eliminated price regulations. The Capital Bureau is a collaboration between EO Media Group and Pamplin Media Group. Repairs needed for soccer netting The Daily Astorian Under the Sky Tues. Hi Lo W 85 42 s 89 54 s 76 59 pc 99 57 s 75 60 s 94 50 s 105 65 s 69 53 s 72 55 s National Cities Today City Hi Lo W Atlanta 83 71 t Boston 92 72 s Chicago 88 69 t Denver 80 54 t Des Moines 78 68 t Detroit 88 70 s El Paso 97 76 t Fairbanks 68 52 sh Honolulu 89 75 sh Indianapolis 86 67 t Kansas City 87 71 t Las Vegas 109 81 s Los Angeles 87 68 s Memphis 87 72 t Miami 91 79 t Nashville 80 70 t New Orleans 86 77 t New York 96 78 s Oklahoma City 93 72 pc Philadelphia 95 73 s St. Louis 90 74 t Salt Lake City 91 60 s San Francisco 81 60 pc Seattle 82 59 s Washington, DC 98 75 s Klamath Falls 48/94 Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2015 58° Friday Times of clouds and sun 69° Ontario 56/93 Bend 50/89 code and full enforcement of state tax laws. Wiser said the FRQÀLFWLQJDGYLFHIURP'HSDUW ment of Energy employees was a sign the agency lacked leader- ship. “Some of them believe in fol- lowing the law, and some of them don’t believe in following the law,” Wiser said. “And nobody’s telling them, ‘This is the way it will be in our department.’” Brokers and project own- ers have for years sought ways around state tax credit price guidelines. In October 2013, Salem-Keizer Transit Finance Manager Jared Isaksen emailed Rules and loopholes state Energy Incentives Program The Department of Energy Manager Maureen Bock to ask if historically controlled tax cred- the district could use a side deal it prices directly, through what to bypass the price guidelines. was known as the pass-through The transit district had been program. The agency helped awarded energy tax credits match buyers and sellers, set worth $3.7 million, which it rates at which the credits could could sell under state rules for be sold and handled the pay- no less than 97.6 cents on the ments. dollar or a total of nearly $3.6 When people started to ne- million. Isaksen asked Bock if gotiate private deals outside the the district could send a rebate of pass-through program, the Leg- nearly $876,000 to the buyer of islature stepped in with a 2009 the credits. That would lower the law that required the Depart- net price of the tax credits to 76 ment of Energy to develop “a cents on the dollar. formula to be employed in the “The underlying question is determination of prices of (tax) can the d istrict discount the cred- credits” in those sales. Lawmak- its further to make them more at- ers reiterated the mandate in a tractive to possible pass-through 2011 law. partners?” Isaksen wrote. “If the However, some energy proj- answer is no, then why not?” ect owners and tax credit bro- Bock initially referred the kers found a different section question to Joe Colello, who han- of state law they interpreted as dled tax credits and other renew- allowing the sale of tax credits DEOHHQHUJ\DQGHI¿FLHQF\LQFHQ at any price negotiated by the tives at the agency. Colello wrote buyers and sellers. Anthony back that Salem-Keizer Transit’s Buckley, the Oregon Depart- proposal was not allowed under PHQW RI (QHUJ\¶V FKLHI ¿QDQ state rules. FLDO RI¿FHU DJUHHG DQG VLQFH Isaksen disagreed with Colel- at least fall 2014, the agency lo’s response, which prompted allowed the private sales at ne- Bock to step in. She referred to gotiated prices under that same the state law that requires the section of Oregon law. It sim- Department of Energy to set tax ply states one-time transfers of credit sales prices, and explained tax credits are allowed, unless KRZWKHDJHQF\YHUL¿HGWKDWEX\ expressly prohibited by other ers and sellers were following the laws. rules. Then, she addressed the re- Jody Wiser is chair of Tax bate Isaksen proposed. Fairness Oregon, a group which “We will not issue a legal advocates for a progressive tax opinion on the legality of what “We were told by the state that we could not discount it,” Rumwell said of the tax credit. Rumwell said the association has no use for the credit because it does not owe taxes to the state, and its window to sell the tax credit closed in December. (QHUJ\ RI¿FLDOV KDYH VDLG they had authority to make a business decision not to enforce the rules, but the policy appears to contradict the intent of the state Legislature which wanted to set prices to ensure the tax LQFHQWLYHVZRXOGEHQH¿WHQHUJ\ projects. Fronts Aug. 13, 2015 MARSCH, Dena Suzanne, 61, of Astoria, died in As- toria. Caldwell’s Luce-Lay- ton Mortuary in Astoria is in charge of the arrangements. REKART, Mary Kath- erine, 66, of Warrenton, died in Portland. Caldwell’s Luce-Layton Mortuary in Astoria is in charge of the ar- rangements. Cold Lotteries Warm Stationary Showers T-Storms -10s -0s 0s 10s 20s 30s 40s 50s 60s 70s 80s 90s 100s 110s Rain Flurries Snow Ice Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day. Forecast high/low temperatures are given for selected cities. Weather (W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain, sf-snow fl urries, sn-snow, i-ice. K lem p Fam ily D en tistry... W e h elp keep fam ilies sm ilin g! W e lo v e new p atients! C o m e and see h o w co m fo rtab le d entistry can really b e... “This is truly “family dentistry” because the moment you enter the state of the art office you are greeted and treated just like you are a part of Dr. Klemp’s family. Everyone is caring and patient and cares K lem p Fa m ily D en tistry o ffers a b ro a d ra n ge o f th era pies a lo n g with a ll yo u r gen era l d en tistry n eed s. about your every concern...” another smiling family OREGON Sunday’s Pick 4: 1 p.m.: 0-9-1-6 4 p.m.: 3-8-3-6 7 p.m.: 1-1-3-1 10 p.m.: 8-0-4-7 Saturday’s Megabucks: 14-21-23-26-34-37 Estimated jackpot: $6 mil- lion. Saturday’s Powerball: 3-13-17-42-52, Powerball: 24 Estimated jackpot: $70 million. Saturday’s Pick 4: 1 p.m.: 5-1-7-6 4 p.m.: 9-0-1-5 7 p.m.: 6-9-0-8 10 p.m.: 4-0-3-5 Friday’s Pick 4: 1006 West Marine Drive, Astoria (503) 468-0116 www.klempfamilydentistry.com Works Committee, 9 a.m., City Hall, 163 E. Gower St., Cannon Beach. Clatsop County Human Services Advisory Council, 4 to 5:30 p.m., 800 Exchange St., Room 430. Port of Astoria Commis- sion, 5 p.m., executive ses- sion (closed to public), 6 p.m., UHJXODUVHVVLRQROG3RUWRI¿F es, 422 Gateway Ave. Astoria Historic Land- marks Commission, 5:15 p.m., City Hall, 1095 Duane St. Shoreline Sanitary Dis- trict Board, 7 p.m., Gearhart Hertig Station, 33496 West Lake Lane, Warrenton. Seaside Planning Commission, 7 p.m., City Hall, 989 Broadway, Seaside. Public meetings MONDAY Knappa School Board, 5:30 p.m., regular meeting, Knappa High School library, 41535 Old U.S. Highway 30. Jewell School Board, 6 p.m., Jewell School Library, 83874 Oregon Highway 103. Astoria City Council, 7 p.m., City Hall, 1095 Duane St. TUESDAY Cannon Beach Public The Daily Astorian Established July 1, 1873 (USPS 035-000) Published daily, except Saturday and Sunday, by EO Media Group, 949 Exchange St., PO Box 210, Astoria, OR 97103 Telephone 503- 325-3211, 800-781-3211 or Fax 503-325-6573. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Daily Astorian, PO Box 210, Astoria, OR 97103- 0210 www.dailyastorian.com MEMBER OF THE ASSOCIATED PRESS KLEMP F A MILY D ENTISTRY WASHINGTON Sunday’s Daily Game: 9-3-4 Sunday’s Keno: 03-04- 07-10-12-13-14-20-26-29-37- 38-41-47-54-56-60-62-69-78 Sunday’s Match 4: 07- 13-17-24 Saturday’s Daily Game: 3-1-7 Saturday’s Hit 5: 07-08- 21-33-37 Estimated jackpot: $190,000 Saturday’s Keno: 01-02- 04-05-07-14-18-20-23-26-34- 40-42-43-55-64-73-74-77-78 Saturday’s Lotto: 22-26- 28-32-34-36 Estimated jackpot: $2.4 million Saturday’s Match 4: 12- 18-19-21 Friday’s Daily Game: 8-3-2 Friday’s Keno: 04-08-15- 34-35-38-45-51-54-61-63-67- 68-73-74-75-77-78-79-80 Friday’s Match 4: 05-06- 21-24 Friday’s Mega Millions: 12-15-20-52-71, Mega Ball: 03 Estimated jackpot: $30 million. 1 p.m.: 0-0-9-4 4 p.m.: 9-3-2-1 7 p.m.: 8-8-7-7 10 p.m.: 6-3-2-1 The Associated Press is entitled exclusively to the use for republication of all the local news printed in this newspaper. 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