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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (April 12, 2000)
Page B4 April 12, 2000 -------------------------(Fije ÿlortianb ffiheeruer /Business P ortiani) Study indicates casinos draw tourist dollars A ssociated P ress T ourist spending is grow ing faster in the eight counties w ith tribal casinos than the rem aining 28 counties in O regon, and the num ber o f jo b s is grow ing along w ith the gam bling, according to a new study. T ourist spending in counties w ith casinos grew at an 8.4 percent annual rate between 1993 when the first casino opened and 1998. E lsew here, spending grew 5 percent. Jo b g ro w th a p p e a re d to m irro r spending. In th e e ig h t c a s in o c o u n tie s , em ploym ent grew at a 6.4 percent rate com pared to 2.7 percent in the rest o f the state betw een 1993 and 1998. In addition, the study done for the O re g o n T o u ris m C o m m is s io n indicated that four o fth e state’s eight casinos m ade the list oftop 10 Oregon attractions in 1999. Spirit M ountain C asino in G rand R o n d e b u m p e d lo n g tim e N o. 1 attraction M ultnom ah Falls as the top O regon destination last year with an estim ated 3 m illion visitors. T he figures indicate that casinos are com peting w ith other visitor centers the state has w orked to develop as part o f its effort to expand so-called “destination” tourism that encourage people to spend m ore tim e and money in O regon. "T he casinos are ju st som ething else people can do on a rainy day,” said Julie C urtis, assistant director for the O regon Tourism Com m ission. “It's another thing to do. Not everyone w ants to go backpacking.” In th e p a s t d e c a d e , v a rio u s businesses and organizations have been a g g re ssiv e ly b u ild in g new attractions. Betw een 1990 and 2000, Oregon g a in e d se v e n n ew m u se u m s o r interpretative centers, the O regon C onvention C enter in Portland and the O regon C oast A quarium . The O regon G arden, a 240-acre botanical garden located near Silverton, opened earlier this m onth, and is scheduled for its formal “grand” opening in 2001. D e s tin a tio n tra v e l h as b e c o m e increasingly im portant to the state’s visitor industry. “ W e are in th e early stag es o f b e c o m in g a m o re d iv e rs e an d sophisticated tourism destination,” C urtis said. “W e d o n ’t ju st w ant ‘w indshield ’ tourism . W e w ant to provide w ays for visitors to spend m ore m oney and m ore days here.” But it has been the eight casinos that h a v e b e e n p a c k in g in v is ito rs consistently. A reas w ithout casinos have w orried that tourists w ould abandon their tow ns for the gam bling meccas. “ E veryone gets nervous w hen an 800-pound gorilla com es to tow n,” said Steve Lamb, o w n ero fC atch The Wind kite stores based in Lincoln City, now hom e to theC hinook Winds Casino. But even though the casinos m ay have diverted som e visitor traffic, they have helped increase overall spending and em ploym ent in the tourism industry. In Oregon, the tourism industry grew at a 5.6 percent annual rate from 1993 to 1998 higher than th e national average o f about 4 percent. Also, grow th from the casinos is expected to slow as th e gam ing industry m atures and its novelty w ea rs off. E v en tu ally , b u sin e ss leaders expect tourist dollars to be spread m ore evenly. “W ith the casino, the pie grew in Lincoln C ity,” said G uy Di Torrice, manager for the Oregon Coast Visitors A ssociation and the Central O regon C oast A ssociation. The tribes, meanwhile, are looking for new w ays to attract visitors, said Bob W helen, a senior econom ist w ith P o rtla n d -b a s e d c o n s u ltin g firm ECONorthwest. “M any o f these casinos are im em o te areas,” W helen said. “T hey” ll really have to make them selves destinations to attract the non-gam bling travelers. The casino lure as a destination has pretty m uch been m axed out.” Two extra days, extended 1RS hours CONTRIBUTED STORY tor T he P ortland O bserver T h is y ea r, ta x p a y e rs h av e u n til m idnight on M onday, April 17, to file their 1999 tax returns because the regular due date, April 15, falls on a Saturday. A nd those w ho have put o ff filing until the final days w ill find that the IRS will be w orking som e overtim e to help them m eet the deadline. T axpayers can visit IRS w alk-in offices to pick up form s and get answ ers to last m inute questions. T hose w ith com pleted returns can file them and m ake tax paym ents, and the IRS will date-stam p their forms and checks or m oney orders. The offices will also accept and date-stamp com pleted extension forms. O regon taxpayers can call the IRS at 1 -8 0 0 -8 2 9 -1 0 4 0 w ith th e ir tax questions seven days a week, 24 hours a day. They also can get answers to questions and dow nload form s by v is itin g th e IR S W e b s ite , ww w.irs.gov. Schedule o f IRS W alk-In O ffices in Portland 1220 SW T hird Avenue(Green/W yatt F e d e r a l B u ild in g ) : M onday, W ednesday, Friday - 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, T hursday - 8 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. S a tu rd a y s-8 :3 0 a .m .to 12:30p.m. Sunday, April 1 6 - 12:30to5:30p.m . Monday, April 1 7 -8 a.m .to m id n ig h t Remember April 17th is deadline for tax returns - 2 extra days from Uncle Sam M iller considered one o f nation’s top turnaround experts for troubled companies A ssociated P ress If you need a m ajor corporation turned around o r j ust som e w ork on yourm odel railroad, Steve M illeris the m an to call. Robert S. “ Steve” M iller Jr. w as the right-hand m an to form er C hrysler Chairm an Lee Iacocca before he b egan his ca reer ad v isin g and rescuing troubled com panies. The W a ll S tre e t Jo u rn al prom inently m entioned him four tim e s d u rin g th e p ast m o n th , including a Page O ne story pegged to trouble he ran into w hile trying to turn around W aste M anagem ent, the n atio n ’s largest trash hauler. M iller graduated in 1959 from Beaverton High School, follow ed b y H a rv a rd Law S ch o o l an d Stanford Business School. His early ties to O regon keep pulling him back, and he has a house in Sunriver w here he also presides over the C oos and Deschutes Railroad. It may be the sm allest venture he has ever led _ mostly because it is confined to his basement. M iller and his wife, M aggie, are laying 800 feet o f nickel-silver track to build a $1 0 0 ,0 0 0 m in iatu re railroad. T he tracks have 80,000 tiny steel spikes individually tacked to 20,000 tw o-inch pine ties that Miller carefully sands and stains to look authentic. “ He has a fascination with order an d re g u la rity ,” say s h is son, Robert S. “ R obin” M iller III, a Bandon attorney. “He likes to take disorder and create a well-organized by-the-clock operation.” His reputation for restoring order has helped th e elder M iller log 2,673,500m ilesoftravel since 1980, w hich he m eticulously records on his com puter for date, type o f plane, airline, destination and m ileage. He says he really w ants to retire for good, but h e’s been w ooed out o f retirem ent five times. H e’s served as president o f M orrison K nudsen in Boise, tw ice as ch ief e x e c u tiv e o f f ic e r o f W a s te M a n a g e m e n t, in C h ic a g o a n d Houston, and as president o f Reliance G roup Holdings in N ew Y ork, all troubled companies, some on the brink o f collapse. “Steve is a one-person profession, a rent-a-CEO,” says Gerald Greenwald, a longtim e friend and associate w ho recruited M illerto Chrysler and, m ost recently, to A etna, w hich is fighting takeover attem pts w hile trying to reorganize. M iller, 58, currently is an adviser to the president o f troubled A etna, the n a tio n ’s largest m edical in su rer, based in H artford, Conn. He credits m uch o f his success to his father, the late Robert S. “Bob” Miller, se n io r p artn er o f the p ro m in en t Portland law firm o f M illerN ash and legal counsel to G eorgia-Pacific. In 1942, at age 31, M iller’s father becam e the youngest law school dean in the nation w hen he took o ver at N o rth w e ste rn S chool o f Law in Portland. “ M ost o f my life w as trying to m ake m y dad proud o f m e,” M iller said. “T hat probably drives a lot o f people. But it w as very im portant to m e to succeed in his eyes, and it w as very im portant for m e to succeed on my ow n.” W hen M iller w as still in high school, his father took him to W ashington, D .C ., where, after m eeting several senators and representatives, he told his son, “Y ou can be president som e day if you w ant to.” M iller translated that to mean, “ If I w asn ’t president, I w ou ld n ’t succeed.” But he w ent against his fath er’s w ishes when he decided to enter th e b u sin e ss w o rld an d le av e Oregon, where his grandfather, D.H. Miller, made the family wealthy with the purchase o f the M oore M ill in 1948. T he fam ily ow ned four m ills at one time, but now manages about40,000 acres o f tim ber, m ost o f it near Bandon on the O regon coast. Mil ler has two brothers, David, now president ofM oore Mill, and Randy, a Republican state senator from Lake O sw ego, and a sister, B arbara Beale. The four m ake up the M oore M ill board o f directors. But M iller’s first jo b w as in D etroit in 1968 with Ford M otorCo., leaving him to climb the corporate ladder all by himself. “N obody in Detroit cared tw o figs w hether I had a prom inent father in P ortland,” M iller said. N obody asked; nobody cared.” M iller now spends m uch o fh is tim e in N ew Y ork now adays, and at 6- foot-4, tends to stand out in the M anhattan crowd. It’ s Mi 1 ler’s experience with bankers, dating back to his C hrysler days, that m akes him especially valuable to com panies. “ I know banks and how they behave in stressful situations,” M iller said. “ I talk their language.” But lately, he adm its h e’s m ore interested in things like getting his m odel railroad into shape. “T here are tim es w hen I get busy and get frustrated, and ask w hy am I doing this,” he said o f his post retirem ent career as a corporate turnaround artist. “I really w ant to retire.” Clinton touts importance o f Census 2000 A s he issu es a p ro clam atio n to co m m e m o ra te A pril 1, 2 0 0 0 as “Census D ay,” President Clinton will call on all A m ericans to respond to the census. T he U.S. Constitution requires the federal governm ent to conduct a census every 10 years, and inform ation from the census is vital to en su re fair rep resen tatio n in the C ongress, to distribute billions in governm ent funding, and to other im portant decisions. Because the 1990census missed 8.4 million people - including m any children, minorities, and low -incom e Am ericans - the C e n su s B u reau is eng ag ed in a C ensus Inform ation A ffects V ital D e c isio n s A b o u t O u r E v ery d ay Lives. E very question on the census form is approved by C ongress and required by law. These questions help the g o v e r n m e n t a n d c o m m u n itie s determ ine w here to build schools, child care facilities, head Start centers, hom es, hospitals, senior centers, jo b tr a i n in g p r o g ra m , r o a d s , an d s u p e r m a r k e ts . F o r in s ta n c e , a question on the long form about c o m m u tin g tim e w ill h e lp transportation planners design new roads and mass transit system s. T he Information. The President will reassure the public th a t a ll c e n s u s in f o rm a tio n is absolutely confidential and, by law, c a n n o t b e sh a re d w ith a n y o n e outside the Census Bureau for any reason. H e w ill add that C ensus B ureau e m p lo y e e s are s u b je c t to s t i f f penalties if they violate that trust. T he President w ill also point out that com pleting the C ensus 2000 form s is not burdensom e: the short form , w hich the vast m ajority o f A m ericans receive, is the shortest it’s been since 1820; the long form, w hich goes to m assive m obilization effort to count all Americans. O nly about h a lf o f A m ericans have m ailed in their census forms. N oting th is, the P re sid en t w ill urge all A m ericans to com plete and mail in their form s or respond to the census online (as vice President G ore has done) by going to the C ensus web page, w w w .2000.census.2ov. He will also cal 1 on federal em ployees and hi s C abinet to lead this effort by their ow n example. President will release a report from his C ouncil o f Econom ic A dvisers that d e m o n s tr a te s h o w b u s in e s s e s , c o m m u n ity o r g a n iz a tio n s an d academ ics use census data to m ake research, planning, hiring and other critical decisions. A low response r a te w o u ld p ro v id e in a c c u ra te in fo rm atio n for th e se im p o rta n t decisions that im pact our everyday lives. R eassuring A m ericans A bout The C o n f id e n tia lity O f A ll C e n su s only one in every six households, is the shortest in its history. Every question on both form s, the President w ill note, has been review ed by C ongress. But m ore important, information from the long form is critical for im portant public policy decisions, from helping co m m u n ities d esig n m ass tran sit system s to providing 911 em ergency services. T he inform ation also helps the governm ent calculate cost-of- living increases for Social Security. Senior Property Tax deferral deadline is April 17 iO N T RlBUTEDSTORV i or T he P ortland O bserver For re se rv a tio n & in fo r m a tio n p lea se call: M y f y ' t y Ö wn -Cimo ó eivice (503) 640*0251 T he O regon D epartm ent o f Revenue rem inds taxpayers that April is the deadline for filing applications with co u n ty a s se ss o rs for th e se n io r property tax deferral program. “T he senior deferral program allow s q u alified sen io r citizens to defer paym ent o f their property taxes on theirhom e,” explained Shirley Leiper, su p erv iso ro fth ed ep artm en t” senior D eferral Unit. “T he state pays the taxes to the county, m aintains the account, and charges 6 percent simple interest, w hich is also d eferred.” T axes and interest m ust be repaid w hen the taxpayer dies, sells the p ro p erty ch a n g es o w n ersh ip , or ceases to live perm anently on the property. To qualify, senior citizens m ust be 62 years o f age or older by April 15 o f the year they apply, m ust live on the property, w hich is the tax p ay er’s principle residence, and m ust have a deed or recorded sales contract. The total household income m ust be less than $24,500 for the year before applications. O nce on the program , senior citizens need an adjusted gross incom e o f $29,00 or le ss to c o n tin u e to p a rtic ip a te . Participants con com e in and out o f the program ifth eirin co m eg o esu p o r down. A surviving spouse m ay continue to defer future taxes if she/he is at least 59 A. A new application is required for surviving spouses o r in the case o f rem arriage. Senior citizen can get applications and inform ation about the deferral program by contacting their local county assessor’s office. For inform ation, contact the IRS’s Tax H elp line at 503-378-4988 ortoll free within Oregon at 1-800-356-4222. Portland from page 1 alw ays have, and they alw ays w ill.” So w hat should m atter, Satcher said, is how people intervene and respond to m e n ta l illn e s s e s , s u c h as depression. “It needs to be identified and treated, and som etim es friends and family are in the best position to do that.” I
