WEEKEND EDITION
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JANUARY 20-21, 2018
142nd Year, No. 68
$1.50
WINNER OF THE 2017 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
Action plan
put in place
as Lifeways
put on spot
Mental health provider
agrees to outside consultant
By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN
and KATHY ANEY
East Oregonian
EO fi le photo
Companies located inside enterprise zones can receive exemptions on property taxes for new construction or equipment,
as long as the investment causes the company to add jobs or increase productivity. Businesses in enterprise zones include
(clockwise from top left) Oregon Grain Growers Brand Distillery in Pendleton, Pioneer Hi-Bred facility in Hermiston, Hill Meat
Company in Pendleton, and Lamb Weston in Hermiston.
BAITING BUSINESS
Enterprise zones give signifi cant
tax breaks to local companies
By JADE MCDOWELL
AND ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
Some of Eastern Oregon’s biggest
businesses get a tax break only they
can access, but it comes with a catch.
The enterprise zone, an Oregon
program that provides multi-year
property tax exemptions on new
investments, has been utilized often
by Pendleton and Hermiston over the
past decade. Companies in certain
industries located inside one of the
zones can receive a three- to fi ve-year
exemption on property taxes for new
construction or equipment, as long as
the investment causes the company
to add jobs or increase productivity.
The exemptions
From the beginning of Hermis-
ton’s enterprise zone in 2005 until
the end of 2017, the city gave enter-
prise zone tax exemptions to $85
million in capital investment. Those
breaks exempted the companies —
Shearer’s Foods, DuPont Pioneer,
Pioneer Hi-Bred and Eastern Oregon
Telecom — from paying any prop-
erty taxes on the new construction or
equipment for three to fi ve years.
In early January, the city gave
its fi rst tax break longer than fi ve
years — known as a longterm
rural enterprise agreement — to
potato processor Lamb Weston.
The company will not have to pay
property taxes for 15 years on a
$225 million project expanding its
Hermiston plant. But in exchange for
the longer tax break, the company
has agreed to a $1 million per year
payment to be split between the city
of Hermiston and Umatilla County.
Assistant city manager Mark Morgan
said that $15 million spread over 15
years will equal about 42 percent of
what Lamb Weston would have paid
in property taxes over that same time
period.
See ENTERPRISE/12A
Cities can give businesses tax breaks for three or more years
for new projects in "enterprise zones." Below are the exemptions
granted by Hermiston and Pendleton since 2009 and the total
value of each project.
Hermiston Enterprise Zone exemptions
Project cost Year
($ millions) begun
Company
Pioneer Hi-Bred
Pioneer Hi-Bred
Dupont Pioneer
Shearer’s Foods
Shearer’s Foods
Shearer’s Foods
Eastern Oregon Telecom
Lamb Weston*
$35
13.9
2.6
3.1
25
3.5
2
225
2009
2013
2013
2010
2011
2014
2017
2018
Year
expired
2015
2019
2019
2014
2015
2018
2021
2033
Pendleton Enterprise Zone exemptions, 2013-2021
Company
Keystone RV
Keystone RV
Keystone RV
Rocky Mountain Colby Pipe
Rocky Mountain Colby Pipe
Rocky Mountain Colby Pipe (pending)
Hill Meat
Hill Meat
Pendleton Woolen Mills
Oregon Grain Growers
Project cost Year
($ millions) begun
$0.75
0.25
0.2
1.5
4.2
4.5
1.2
6.5
0.35
0.15
*$1 million per year to be paid instead of property taxes.
Sources: Cities of Hermiston and Pendleton
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2019
2013
2016
2016
2017
Year
expired
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2021
2015
2018
2018
2019
EO Media Group graphic
A Friday meeting left mental health
professionals and local law enforcement
“cautiously optimistic” about improve-
ments that can be made to crisis services
in Umatilla County.
“The most important thing is that Life-
ways and law enforcement agreed to work
together to create a better structure for
communication and information sharing,”
said Kevin Campbell,
the CEO of Greater
Oregon Behavioral
Health, Inc.
The
meeting
included
county
mental
health
provider Lifeways,
its
administrative
organization GOBHI,
and chiefs of most
of
the
county’s Campbell
police departments.
It was prompted by
a message last week
from
Campbell,
who issued a public
statement saying that
if Lifeways did not
make “key changes”
by Feb. 20 their
contract for crisis
services in Umatilla Roberts
County would be
terminated.
After Friday’s meeting, Pendleton
Police Chief Stuart Roberts said he felt
more optimistic about mental health
services in the county than he had in a long
time.
“We agree that as long as there are
deliverables in the next 90 days we are
willing to work together,” he said.
Roberts said the group formed a couple
of immediate goals: specifi cally, bringing
in an outside consultant to work with Life-
ways and setting up a coalition to address
case-specifi c issues.
He said Lifeways hoped to hire a
consultant within the next couple of weeks.
Roberts said the idea for a coalition
was proposed by new Lifeways CEO
Tim Hoekstra, who started work with the
organization just this week.
“It’s a strategy he’s previously
employed,” Roberts said.
Campbell said they also identifi ed some
of the challenges Lifeways has faced.
“I believe one barrier in the past has been
See LIFEWAYS/12A
Pendleton’s fi nest
get the spotlight
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
Emcee Steve Hill said
the Pendleton Chamber of
Commerce First Citizens
Banquet was “Pendleton’s
Oscars,” not only because
it’s one of the community’s
highest honors, but because
of the suspense involved in
announcing the winners.
With one notable excep-
tion, the presenters at the
Wildhorse Resort & Casino
lived up to their billing Friday
night by taking their time in
announcing Kathy Houk as
Woman of the Year and Ron
Martin as the Man of the Year
for 2017.
A native Pendletonian,
Houk spent a lifetime building
up her credentials for the
award.
As a Blue Mountain
Community College student,
she played on the Timber-
wolves’ fi rst woman’s basket-
ball team, ran track, and served
on a team that helped start the
BMCC community Christmas
dinner, where she has served
meals for more than 30 years.
See CITIZENS/9A
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Kathy Houk smiles at the crowd after being named the Pendleton Chamber of
Commerce 2017 Woman of the Year.