OREGON
Tuesday, May 17, 2022
East Oregonian
A9
Questions about taxes, tobacco and guns on local ballots
tobacco products, coupons
and discounts for tobacco
and sales through vending
machines or kiosks.
Coos County is consid-
ering a 9.5% tax on stays at
hotels, motels, campgrounds,
vacation rentals and other
short-term destinations in
part of the county. Under
state law, local governments
can charge lodging taxes as
long as at least 70% of the
proceeds are used to promote
tourism. Coos County
intends to use the rest of the
money for public safety and
cleaning up trash, including
abandoned mobile homes.
By JULIA SHUMWAY
Oregon Capital Chronicle
SALEM — Voters in
three more Oregon coun-
ties vote Tuesday, May 17, to
indicate whether they want to
become Idaho residents with-
out leaving their homes.
Questions about the
“Greater Idaho” movement
are on ballots in Douglas,
Josephine and Klamath
counties, following approval
in eight rural counties,
mostly in the southeast part
of the state, to push toward
redrawing the boundary
between Idaho and Oregon.
The measures are among
dozens of proposals on
Oregon ballots this year.
Even if the measures
pass in the three counties,
residents wouldn’t become
Idahoans anytime soon.
Changing state boundaries
takes approval from both
the state Legislatures and
Congress. But Mike McCa-
rter, president of Citizens
for Greater Idaho, said each
county vote sends lawmakers
a message about rural discon-
tent.
“Every county that passes
that sends a bigger message
to the Oregon Legislature
that you have an issue in rural
Oregon counties, and they
want to see something done
about it,” McCarter said.
“And if something can’t be
done about it, then let them
go. Let them become part of
the state of Idaho.”
Voters in Baker, Grant,
Harney, Jefferson, Lake,
Malheur Sherman and Union
counties already endorsed
the idea, passing variations of
ballot measures that require
county commissioners to
regularly discuss changing
state borders. The proposed
Klamath County measure
would result in that county
joining those conversations,
while the Douglas County
proposal would allow county
commissioners to pay lobby-
ists or authorize county staff
to lobby state and federal
officials to change the state
boundaries.
•
Taxes for schools and
public safety
Malheur Enterprise/Contributed Photo
Oregon voters in the election Tuesday, May 17, 2022, weigh in on issues including whether
to change Oregon’s boundary with Idaho, whether to repeal tobacco regulations and how
much money neighborhood schools should receive.
Josephine County’s ballot
measure, referred by county
commissioners, asks whether
Josephine and other rural
counties should separate
from Oregon and become
part of Idaho. Commission-
ers intend to use the results
as a guide as they develop
policy.
The three measures
aiming to show support for
changing state boundaries
are among dozens of deci-
sions on local ballots. Voters
across Oregon aren’t only
selecting candidates this
spring but directly deciding
whether to enact or reject
laws and taxes.
New policies
In Josephine County,
voters will decide whether
to repeal a 2021 ordinance
that would let the county
planning director inspect
property believed to contain
an illegal marijuana farm
and issue civil fines along
with referring findings for
criminal prosecution. The
ordinance never took effect
because voters referred it to
the ballot.
Supporters of the ballot
measure repealing the 2021
law, including state Sen. Art
Robinson, R-Cave Junc-
tion, argue that letting the
ordinance take effect will
give government officials
free range to violate prop-
erty rights. Opponents of
the measure contend that
the ordinance gave Jose-
phine County another tool
to combat flourishing cartel-
funded marijuana farms.
Tualatin is considering a
change to term limit laws that
would allow Mayor Frank
Bubenik to run for a second
term. The 27,000-population
city now limits city council-
ors or mayors to no more
than 12 years in a 20-year
period, and a charter change
proposed to voters would
allow someone who served
two terms as a city councilor
to also serve two consecutive
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terms as mayor. Bubenik was
elected mayor in 2018 after
two terms on the city council.
Sublimity, a city of about
3,100 east of Salem, is asking
voters whether it should
continue including fluoride
in its drinking water, which
it has done since 1955.
Shaniko, a Wasco County
city with 35 residents that
describes itself as a ghost
town, is asking its few voters
to allow the elected city
recorder to live outside city
limits. The recorder doesn’t
vote on city issues.
Tillamook County is
considering an ordinance that
would bar county officials
from following or enforcing
most gun control laws. Attor-
ney General Ellen Rosen-
blum last year sued two other
counties that have adopted
so-called Second Amend-
ment Sanctuary Ordinances.
In Washington County,
voters will decide whether
to repeal a county ordi-
nance that banned flavored
Counties throughout the
state are seeking to renew
existing local option taxes or
pass bond measures, which
taxpayers will pay off over
the next 20 years. Voters will
decide whether to support
replacing fire stations, build-
ing or repairing schools and
pools and keep fire and road
districts running.
Some highlights:
• Corvallis School District:
$1.50 per $1,000 of
assessed value over the
next five years, raising a
total of $46 million. With-
out renewing the tax, the
school district estimates
it would have to cut its
budget 10%, the equivalent
of 90 teaching positions.
• Nor t h Bend School
District: $22.7 million in
bonds, estimated to cost
taxpayers $0.88 per $1,000
over the next 20 years.
The district would remove
asbestos, replace windows,
repair aging buildings and
create a performing arts
space.
• South Umpqua School
District No. 19: $20.9
million in bonds, esti-
mated to cost $1.15 per
$1,000 over the next 30
years. It would build a new
K-8 school in Canyonville
and create safety vestibules
at two elementary schools.
• Roseburg School District:
•
•
•
$154 million in bonds
to replace the old main
building at Roseburg
High School, improve
playgrounds and athletic
fields and add multipur-
pose facilities to elemen-
tary schools. It would cost
taxpayers about $1.85 per
$1,000 for 20 years.
Morrow County School
District: $138 million
in bonds, costing about
$2.67 per $1,000 for 20
years. It would create sepa-
rate elementary, middle
and high school spaces at
combined schools, build
a new K-12 facility at the
Heppner Junior/Senior
High School campus and
upgrade security in every
building.
Beaverton School District:
$723 million in bonds, at
a cost of $0.25 per $1,000
over 30 years. It would
rebuild Beaverton High
and Raleigh Hills Elemen-
tary, upgrade computers,
replace old buses and roofs
and improve security.
Voters in Gearhart, a Clat-
sop County city of about
1,500 near the coast,
will decide whether they
should pay about $1.21 per
$1,000 in assessed value
over the next 20 years
for a new fire and police
station. The city’s current
building, a concrete block
built in 1958, lacks sepa-
rate restrooms for men
and women. A new $14.5
million building would
have separate restrooms,
storage space and sleep-
ing areas and be designed
to survive a tsunami. It
has garnered strong oppo-
sition in the city, with anti-
bond signs dotting Clatsop
County highways.
Redmond is seeking about
$40 million in bonds to
build a new police station
in the city of about 31,000
north of Bend. Taxpayers
would end up paying about
$0.73 per $1,000 for the
next 20 years.
— This article appeared
first on Oregon Capital
Chronicle.
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MAY 20, 2022 • 3:00-6:00 P.M.
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