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3A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, JUNE 29, 2017 County budget includes fee increases Busy county roads Spending plan expands total by 13 percent By JACK HEFFERNAN The Daily Astorian The Clatsop County Board of Commissioners voted 4-1 Wednesday to adopt a sizable budget increase for the second consecutive year. The budget for the fis- cal year that begins Saturday totals $65.1 million, a roughly 13 percent increase from this year. Last year, commission- ers increased the budget by 10 percent. More than half of this year’s increase is a result of money transfers and increased contin- gency funds. Other increases will go toward personnel ser- vices and special projects. Property taxes connected to funds in the budget will remain the same as last year. Stable tax and timber reve- nues have allowed the county Lianne Thompson Cameron Moore to enhance services, increase staffing and focus on special projects, Budget and Finance Director Monica Steele said. “The county is in a good financial position and contin- ues to monitor that situation,” Steele said. The new budget allocates 49 percent of resources to public safety systems such as the Sheriff’s Office and Emer- gency Management. It will increase staffing in the Sher- iff’s Office as well as fund- ing toward alternative custody programs. Commissioners also unan- imously approved a series of fee increases based on an annual review of county departments. Services from community development, public health and wastewater management will all see fee hikes. The $9 fee hikes for most planning permits and reviews will fund the salary of a new permanent technician. Mean- while, public health will be able to account for the increas- ing number of businesses ask- ing for licenses, and waste- water management has not been subject to increases since the county assumed those responsibilities within the last decade, Steele said. Special projects such as an additional road near the future site of the North Coast Busi- ness Park and construction of a household hazardous waste facility will also benefit from the increases, she said. Commissioner Lianne Thomson, the sole “no” vote, said she did not see enough emphasis on housing issues, economic development and emergency preparedness. She also lamented what she con- sidered a lack of inclusion of commissioners in the budget- ing process. “I look at the process we have. I look at the product we have, and I have concerns,” Thompson said. “When I look at the product, I don’t see what I think is the appropriate focus on these critical issues. In my mind, the process that we have doesn’t allow us the ease or the flexibility or the time to tease out how to raise those community issues.” County Manager Cameron Moore said he “couldn’t dis- agree more.” “I do think the bud- get reflects community pri- orities, but I also think we have to practice prudent fis- cal management because this is other people’s money that we’re spending,” Moore said. “Within the resources we have, we certainly try to do what we can, and if there was clear direction from the a majority of the board say- ing, ‘We want different priori- ties,’ those are the priorities we would work on.” GOP cries foul over attempt to push a vote on provider tax to January special election By CLAIRE WITHYCOMBE Capital Bureau Clatsop Post 12 BBQ Pork Rib Dinner With Baked Beans, Corn on the Cob, Salad & Cornbread Friday th June 30 4 pm until gone $ 8. 00 6PM “Karaoke Dave” ASTORIA AMERICAN LEGION Clatsop Post 12 1132 Exchange Street 325-5771 A $500,000 project kicks off this summer By JACK HEFFERNAN The Daily Astorian More than 2 1/2 miles of often-used Clatsop County roads will be paved this summer. The nearly $500,000 proj- ect approved unanimously by the Board of Commis- sioners on Wednesday will include repaving sections of Ridge Road in Warrenton, Old Highway 30 in Knappa, Walluski Loop Road and the adjacent Labiske Lane inter- section south of the Clatsop County Fairgrounds. Bayview Transit Mix was awarded the contract for the project. Hot mix asphaltic concrete will be applied to the roads to account for fac- tors such as current pave- ment conditions and traffic volume. Last year, Walluski Loop Road served as a detour during repairs at a nearby section of state Highway 202. Two small areas of the road that were already in need of repaving were further dam- aged during the heavier traf- fic flow. The nearby Labiske Lane intersection has been in need of maintenance for several years and has seen increases in heavy truck traffic, Senior Administra- tive Supervisor Teresa Clute wrote in a document pre- sented to commissioners. Old Highway 30 will be repaved from Maggie John- son Road to Little Creek. The steep, curvy road has devel- oped potholes due to recent oiling projects, and the pav- ing will aid heavy truck traf- fic, Clute wrote. The Ridge Road repairs, due to outdated paving, will stretch from Southwest Ninth Street to Peter Iredale Road. The paving project, while not entirely unusual in scope, is one of the larger ones the county will agree to this year, County Manager Cameron Moore said. Road work is expected to be completed by September. County invests in ankle bracelets for alcohol monitoring State Democrats want to ensure Medicaid funded SALEM — Democrats in the Legislature are trying to force a special election in January if petitioners are suc- cessful in putting the recently passed health care provider tax on the ballot for a statewide vote. While Democrats say they are trying to pre-empt a Medic- aid funding crisis, the attempt prompted ire from state Rep. Julie Parrish, R-Tualatin/West Linn. In Oregon, voters can gather signatures to refer none- mergency legislation for a vote in the general election. After the final gavel falls on the legislative session, petition- ers have 90 days to file a peti- tion with the Secretary of the State’s Office to refer legisla- tion to the ballot. A proposed amendment to Senate Bill 229 would sched- ule a special election for Jan- uary on referrals from this ses- sion, rather than wait for the November general election in 2018. It would also trans- fer responsibility for writing ballot titles from the Attorney General’s Office to a bipartisan legislative committee. Rep. Dan Rayfield, D-Cor- vallis, says that holding a spe- cial election next January would give the Legislature time to find a resolution in the event the health care provider tax, designed to pay for Med- icaid by assessing hospitals, insurers and coordinated care organizations, is struck down by voters. While several Senate Republicans voted in favor of the tax last week, it first faced a tougher battle in the House of Representatives, narrowly meeting the required three- fifths majority vote with one Republican’s approval. Parrish voted against it, and argues that Democrats didn’t consider an alternative funding plan for Medicaid. Less than two weeks before legislators must adjourn and balance the budget, Parrish argued that the move could affect other controversial reve- to get a face-lift By JACK HEFFERNAN The Daily Astorian Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian A provider tax on hospitals will help close the state’s budget deficit. nue-raising measures that could be passed by legislators, namely a proposed transportation pack- age that includes increases to the gas tax, and another pro- posal that would collect more revenues by restructuring small-business taxes. Parrish cast the proposed amendment as a partisan move to reduce turnout and poten- tially impact the results. “Our Constitution allows voters the right to petition their government in a fair and equi- table manner,” Parrish wrote in an email Tuesday night. “The regularly scheduled gen- eral election is when the wid- est population of voters turn out for an election. The net effect of bypassing the gen- eral election is akin to voter suppression.” Precedent But a January special elec- tion on a referral is not with- out precedent. A special elec- tion was held in January 2010 as a referendum on two tax increases passed by the Legis- lature in 2009. That year, Measure 66 and Measure 67 were approved by voters and took effect in late February. However, Paul Gronke, a professor of political science at Reed College and direc- tor of the Early Voting Infor- mation Center, said he did not see “any particular parti- san advantage” in putting tax measures on the ballot in a special election. Gronke wrote in an email Wednesday that January vot- ers are “committed voters and more partisan voters, and in general, those voters are older, higher income, bet- ter educated and in Oregon, lean more conservative (in the context of a very liberal state overall).” Oregon already has a sys- tem for assessing certain urban hospitals based on their net revenues. The legislation passed last week would main- tain that assessment and create a .7 percent tax on those urban hospitals, start an assessment on rural hospitals, and create a tax on insurance premiums. The new taxes are poised to raise more than $600 mil- lion in the next two years and draw down nearly $1.9 billion in federal funding to help pay for the Oregon Health Plan, Oregon’s version of Medicaid. It would also help reduce a $1.4 billion gap between pro- jected revenues and expenses in the state’s upcoming two- year budget. Rayfield said that if vot- ers reject the tax at the bal- lot box, the Legislature could address the Medicaid short- fall in its monthlong session in February. Ballot titles Under the proposed amendment, the Legislature, through a committee with membership from both parties and from both the House and Senate, would have say over writing the ballot title, accord- ing to Rayfield. The Attorney General’s Office writes ballot titles. Parrish sees it differently. The proposed amendment specifies the ballot title-writ- ing committee would include two members from the major- ity party and one member from the minority party from each chamber. “To usurp the ballot titling authority from the Attorney General, and redistribute that power to the Legislature for partisan purposes (is) wholly unacceptable, and voters should be allowed to weigh in on that decision as well,” Par- rish wrote. The Capital Bureau is a collaboration between EO Media Group and Pamplin Media Group. Leinassar Dental Excellence Trusted, Caring and Affordable Dental Care People ordered by Clat- sop County Circuit Court not to consume alcohol will be required to wear ankle brace- lets in the near future that track possible violations. The county Board of Commissioners unanimously approved a contract Wednes- day that will allow the Sher- iff’s Office to kick-start the program. It will likely be implemented by August, Lt. Kristen Hanthorn said. “That’s something we’ve been lacking,” she said. “It’s been an ask by our judges and our treatment courts.” Daily costs to the Sher- iff’s Office for using the product total more than $25,000 per year, accord- ing to estimates given by services contractor Vigilnet America LLC. The Sheriff’s Office cur- rently relies on urine tests to track offenders. Urine tests are sometimes passable with proper timing regardless of recent alcohol consump- tion. The bracelets automat- ically analyze body sweat every 30 minutes to ensure compliance. Offenders both inside and outside of the county jail will be required to wear them, Hanthorn said. Ocean Park man arrested on online child porn charge EO Media Group OCEAN PARK, Wash. — An Ocean Park, Washing- ton, man was arrested earlier this month for “possession of depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit con- duct,” according to the Pacific County Sheriff’s Office. The arrest of Joshua S. Brown, 19, resulted from an FBI investigation. An FBI special agent told local authorities that an online child pornography-sharing inves- tigation appeared to involve a computer IP address on the 29000 block of R Street of Ocean Park. The FBI inves- tigation allegedly revealed several images and videos depicting adult males having sexual intercourse with young females. Joining forces with the FBI, a sheriff’s investiga- tor served a search warrant in January at the residence. Three occupants at the resi- dence were interviewed. The FBI seized a computer for forensic analysis. On June 13, the FBI pro- vided the Sheriff’s Office with evidence allegedly obtained from the computer, including a CD/DVD con- taining several images depict- ing adult males who appeared to be engaging in intercourse with female minors. The CD allegedly also contained hundreds of other images that were classified as child pornography. W A NTED Alder and Maple Saw Logs & Standing Timber N orth w es t H a rdw oods • Lon gview , W A Contact: John Anderson • 360-269-2500 Hear what loyal and new patients alike are saying... Emergency, camping in Washington and on the way to Astoria, Oregon, a fr ont bottom ceneer pops off and disappears. From the very fi rst phone call on a Friday, the Leinassar staff was helpful and caring. Early Saturday morning staff and Dr. Jeff met me with a smile and a solution. Dr’s work was artistic and I left a “Happy Camper” with a beautiful sculptured tooth and a big smile myself. Th ank you, Dr. Jeff and staff for an experience I am grateful for. Good Job ! Looks and feels terrifi c ! Maureen S. 503.325.0310 1414 Marine Drive, Astoria www.smileastoria.com JEFFREY M. LEINASSAR DMD, FAGD In honor of July 4th, The Daily Astorian’s offi ces in Astoria and Seaside will be CLOSED TUESDAY, JULY 4 Have a safe holiday! PAPER DELIVERY WILL PROCEED AS USUAL CLASSIFIED DEADLINES: Monday, July 3 rd , 11 am for Tuesday, July 4 th Monday, July 3 rd , 1 pm for Wednesday, July 5 th DISPLAY AD DEADLINES: Thursday, June 29 th , 5 pm for Tuesday, July 4 th Friday, June 30 th , 5 pm for Wednesday, July 5 th Place classifi ed ads or subscribe 24/7 www.dailyastorian.com
