Va. news crew killed on live TV MARINERS BEAT THE ATHLETICS 1B 91/60 NATION/7A THURSDAY, AUGUST 27, 2015 139th Year, No. 225 WINNER OF THE 2015 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD One dollar Kicker will return $402.4M to taxpayers By PETER WONG Capital Bureau Estimated Kicker Value Income Group Income Bottom 20 percent < $10,200 Second 20 percent $10,200 - $23,800 Middle 20 percent $23,800 - $43,800 Fourth 20 percent $43,800 - $79,900 Next 15 percent $79,900 - $157,100 Top 4 percent $157,100 - $336,400 Top 1 percent > $336,400 Average Median $53,900 $30,000 - $35,500 Kicker $10 $55 $125 $235 $469 $1,073 $4,614 $244 $124 ² Source 2reJon 2I¿ ce oI (conomic $nDl\ViV PENDLETON City staff compiles lists of roads that fees would ¿ x SALEM — Oregonians can expect an average of $124 off their 2015 tax returns due in April 2016, according to the state’s latest economic and revenue forecast. State Economist Mark McMullen said Wednesday that the amount of excess income tax collections from the previous two-year budget cycle is $402.4 million, down from the $473 million fore- cast May 14. He said tax collections dipped more than anticipated in late spring and the result is the smaller amount. Wednesday’s forecast is the ¿ rst of the new budget cycle, and also is the one immediately after the close of the 2013-15 cycle. Unlike the practice for the past two decades, the excess — known as the “kicker” — will be returned to individual taxpayers in the form of a credit against the following year’s tax bills. Lawmakers in 2011 ended the practice of mailing checks directly to taxpayers that was started in 1995. The average rebate of $124 is for Oregon median incomes — half of them above and half below — ranging from $30,000 to $35,000. Because the rebate is based on liability, higher-income households will get far more than the average; low-income house- holds will get as little as $10. The most recent kicker was in 2007, when $1.1 billion was rebated a few months before the of¿ cial start of the latest economic downturn. A 1979 law, which voters wrote into the Oregon Consti- tution in 2000, requires a rebate of excess taxes when actual collections exceed budget projections by 2 percent. The law also applies to corporate income taxes, but in 2012, voters earmarked any excess collections of corpo- rate taxes for the state school fund. That amount is built into the current state budget cycle that started July 1. Totem pole journey makes stop in Boardman By ANTONIO SIERRA East Oregonian A little more than two months before Elec- tion Day, Pendleton city staff have produced lists of roads that could be addressed using revenues from a $5 street utility fee and a 5-cent gas tax. City staff presented two rough draft lists to the Pendleton City Council at a work session Tuesday. One was a list of streets that would be funded by a utility fee. The other was a longer list of streets that would be funded if voters pass “We don’t want a gas tax in addition to the to burden the utility fee. The council taxpayer too is looking to pass the utility much, but I don’t fee within think another the next few months, while $2.10, if they voters will need to approve understand what the gas tax in we’re doing and November for the city to what we’re using implement it. it for, is asking The lists use a funding for too much.” f o r m u l a — John Brenne, determined at a previous work Pendleton city councilman session. All new revenue would be used for less-traveled, residential streets, with 70 percent going toward well-main- tained streets and 30 percent earmarked for roads currently in poor condition. One of the poor streets targeted for repair, regardless of which list is used, is Southwest Perkins Avenue. The residents of the McKay Creek-area road submitted a petition to the city in November to ¿ x their street, igniting council discussion over ¿ xing the city’s À agging transportation system. See PENDLETON/8A Staff photo by E.J. Harris A color guard with the Yakama Warrior Association participates in a ceremony for the 2015 Totem Pole Journey on Wednesday at the Boardman Marina Park. Tribes try to squelch fossil fuel exports By GEORGE PLAVEN East Oregonian Staff photo by E.J. Harris The 22-foot totem pole created by Jewell James is traveling from British Columbia to Montana and is following the route potential coal trains will follow from the mine to the sea. It took Jewell James and his family four months to carve a colorful 22-foot totem pole depicting American Indian drummers among traditional wildlife including an eagle, turtle, badgers and lizards. Each ¿ gure tells a story about the tribes’ connection to the earth, said James, head carver for the Lummi Nation’s House of Tears Carvers in Bellingham, Washington. Yet many of those natural resources are now under threat by proposed fossil fuel exports across the Paci¿ c Northwest, he said. In an effort to raise awareness and unity for the environ- See TOTEM/8A HERMISTON Schools see record number oI students on ¿ rst day Hermiston district enrollment almost 5,600 By SEAN HART East Oregonian More students were enrolled Wednesday for the ¿ rst day of school in the Hermiston School District than ever before. Deputy Superintendent Wade Smith said, although the numbers usually decline as school gets underway from families who moved during the summer, the district currently has close to 5,600 students enrolled. “Last year, we peaked at about 5,300 students and settled into a 5,200 student count,” he said. “If we follow suit similarly this year, we should settle in between 5,400 and 5,500 students.” The district freed up some space for students by leasing a 24,000-square-foot district of¿ ce building at 305 S.W. 11th St. and consolidating many different functions there that were previously housed in other schools, Smith said. Even with three additional classrooms at the high school, however, the facility is already full and exceeding its capacity See SCHOOL/8A Pug-of-war Staff photo by E.J. Harris Yoshi, a 2-year-old pug, plays tug-of-war over a pepperoni stick with Blake Self, 8, of Pendleton during the Wednesdays in the Park music series at Roy Raley Park in Pendleton.