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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (June 16, 2018)
SIUSLAW NEWS | SATURDAY, JUNE 16, 2018 | 9A LEVY from page 1A Those differences in opinions were actually huge, and led to heated public arguments. Several city councilors ended up quit- ting, as did much of the city staff. “It was a brutal time,” Mills re- called. Running on volunteers, the city was treading water. The Lane County rule change went unnoticed by Dunes City. Lane County didn’t notice either, so for the past decade the city has continued to collect the shared revenue. “We don’t know why it wasn’t noticed,” Mills said. “Nobody said anything and nobody did anything. Not even our auditors saw it, and they do our books. We’ve just been flying under the radar screen because we’ve been receiving those funds, but we do not assess the tax. So that’s a vi- olation.” A violation that could take away up to $100,000 from the city annually. “We would be deep in trou- ble,” if the money went away, City Council President Robert Orr said. It wasn’t until this year that staff realized the discrepancy and spoke to the city’s lawyers about ways to rectify the problem. The answer? Impose a proper- ty tax. “We don’t really want to assess a tax,” Mills said. “We needed a very, very minimal tax just so we can say, ‘Yes we assess a proper- ty tax, so give us the money our people pay you already.’” Dunes City’s suggested solu- tion is to create a $.005 tax on FRAA ART CENTER 120 Maple Street Phone: 541-997-4435 Hours Open: Wed-Fri 11am-5pm, Sat 10am-5pm, Sun. 11am-5pm Classes, Workshops & Events Art and Craft Supplies Sale Big Wave Poetry Slam Monday, June 18th, 4-7 pm Join FRAA as artists sell their extra art & craft supplies to the public hoping to make room for new craft supplies! Have extra supplies you would like to sell at the event, contact FRAA. Sat., June 30th, 6:30 pm at the FEC Prizes will be awarded. To join the contest, visit www.fraaoregon.org . Or just come and enjoy. Tickets $5 available at the door. Big Wave Poetry 1st Tuesday Open Mic Call to Artists: Central Coast Connection Phone Book Contest - Photography July 3rd at 6:30 pm. Admission is free and refreshments will be available. Have your photography grace the cover of the 2019 phone book! Details available at www.fraaoregon.org . Deadline for entry is June 30th. Poetry Writing Class with Jeff Lovejoy Call to Artists: Spirit of Summer Art Exhibit, FRAA and the Friends of the Florence Gallery Committee July and August 2018 at the Event Center. Deadline for entry is June 22nd. Details available at www.fraaoregon.org . Writers on the River - Creative Writing w/ Catherine Rourke - Writing to Heal Your Life Sat., July 28th 10 am - 12 noon Journaling/storytelling for transformation. All writing levels and genres, Contact: CJReditor@gmail.com , 541-708-2120 Tuesday, July 10th, 6-8 pm. All levels welcome! Recapping intro class; new poems, exercises, discussion of poetry problems. Contact Jeff for questions and registration: jlovejoy54@gmail.com Bastille Day Literary Salon with Catherine Rourke Saturday, July 14th, 6:30-8:30 pm Writers Open Mic, Tribute to Tom Wolfe, Phil Roth, Anthony Bourdain Free public event, $5 suggested donation Email CJReditor@gmail.com or 541-708-2120 property value. “Half a penny,” Mills ex- plained. And how much will residents end up paying annually? For a home that is worth $200,000, the homeowner will end up paying the city $1 annually. “You’re not paying $4,000 a year from property tax,” Dunes City Mayor Robert Forsythe said. The city believes that the total revenue collected from all of the city’s residents would be around $1,216. But, as was pointed out by city councilors, there is always a dan- ger of “creeping taxes.” It may start off at half a penny, but fu- ture city councils could push to increase the amount. The solution staff came up with was to make this “tax” an option levy that expires in five years. The rate can’t be raised within those five years, and after the levy runs out, the city and the voters reevaluate. Dunes City Budget Commit- tee member Rory Hammond, who helped with the idea, ex- pressed why he felt the plan was good for Dunes City. “I fear over regulation,” he said. “I fear a great governmen- tal bureaucracy that grows. I fear overzealous code enforce- ments. I fear high taxes. This state has a culture that ‘govern- ment knows best,’ but frankly it doesn’t. I believe in local control, and I believe that this tax will create more good to help Dunes City residents than hurt them. We have to do this tax because overzealous regulations. It’s too bad that we have to do this. But it’s the only way to get around it. I don’t want to see this be the start of a huge property tax, but I think it’s the right thing to do.” In another ballot measure ap- proved by the city council, the city’s current struggles with col- lecting code enforcement funds was addressed. Currently, the city has no agreement with a municipal court judge to hear cases regard- ing code enforcement infrac- tions, such as violation to septic codes to nuisance orders. Generally, the city attempts to avoid forcing citizens to pay fines. “If people will sit down with me and talk about how they can get results to everybody’s sat- isfaction, we don’t fine them,” Mills said. “We try and build in a lot of flexibility to everybody’s satisfaction.” But sometimes people aren’t so amenable. Some residents say they will fix an issue but don’t while other residents don’t even bother responding to an inquiry in the first place. “Or they just lie and say they’ve done it, which has happened,” Mills said. The reason people can get away with this is because Dunes City has no real enforcement. “In order to do anything, I have to travel to Eugene and have them enter it in,” Mills explained. “I can enter fines now, but I can’t collect them. I don’t have the authority to place a lien without court approval.” So the city is looking to enter an agreement with the circuit court judge who hears trials in Florence three times a week. City code does state that any court proceedings would have to take place at Dunes City hall. “The way our charter is writ- ten right now, in order to have a municipal judge, they have to meet right here,” Mills explained. “If that were to happen, you would have to have several meet- ing rooms. You have to have a separate place to put all files and a bailiff as well.” The measure would allow Dunes City to have its trials heard in Florence. However, councilors ques- tioned if paying for a judge through the collections of fines would be worth the effort and expense. “My thought on the topic is, a small percentage of [fines] is better than 100 percent of noth- ing,” Forsythe said. “And what happens is, it puts teeth into our ordinances.” Dunes City residents will have the opportunity to vote on the measures this November. MEALS from page 1A mer is a natural fit to meet the demand.” The impact of hunger on a stu- dent’s life can be uncomfortable and distracting in the short term, but also significantly detrimental over the long term. A growing child’s ability to un- derstand and integrate new con- cepts has been directly linked to proper nutritional support. In short, it’s hard to think when you are hungry and it’s hard to do well in school if you can’t think. No Kid Hungry has found that 4 million youth rely on free meals during the summer when school meals are not available. This is one reason for Siuslaw School District’s summer meal program, which has been de- signed to serve all youth in the area, from one year old to 18, free of charge. Grzeskowiak said that any young person that needs some- thing to eat can receive a free meal, or two a day, even when school is not in session. “Unlike the school sessions, there is no qualifying criteria. All you have to do is be a kid in the community under the age of 18,” Grzeskowiak said. “It doesn’t mat- ter to the district whether they are visiting relatives for the summer, home schoolers, preschoolers or get rolled up in a stroller. “So, I guess there are really two criteria; be a kid and need a meal.” The meal locations and the dis- tribution times for this year are slightly different than in year’s past. Breakfast and lunch service will be Monday through Friday be- ginning June 19 and continuing through Aug. 17, with a day off for the Fourth of July. Breakfast is served between 8 and 8:30 a.m. at Siuslaw elementa- ry and high schools on Oak Street. Lunch is served at the elemen- tary school from 11:30 to 11:55 a.m., then delivered to Miller Park between noon and 12:15 p.m. The delivery van then goes to the Siu- slaw Public Library, 1460 Ninth St., from 12:20 to 12:35 p.m. The lunch distribution ends up at Siu- slaw High School from 12:40 to 12:55 p.m. There are a number of other programs underway in Florence that are also concerned with the issue of childhood hunger. Grzeskowiak is glad for the broader attention being paid to the problem. “Summer seems to one of the forgotten times for donations to many service organizations. If anyone in the community is interested in donating or help- ing one of our partner orga- niza-tions, I would encourage them to contact Food Backpack For Kids, the Boys & Girls Club of Western Lane County or Flor- ence Food Share,” he said. “They can always use a few more do- na-tions or helping hands, no matter the time of the year. The need is always present.” For more information, con- tact the Siuslaw School District Office at 541-997-2651 or visit siuslaw.k12.or.us. Grzeskowiak continued, “Many of their parents are working during the day, so continuing meal services during the sum- Painting with John Leasure Saturdays 9 am - 12 pm Contact: jnleasure@hotmail.com or 541-991-2754 for details and fees. For more information about classes, visit fraaoregon.org. To register for these classes, please call or visit FRAA at our art center on Maple Street. Sponsored by: A C O M M U N I T Y- O W N E D E L E C T R I C U T I LI TY Screening Presented by: Siuslaw News & KCST & KCFM Coast Radio Always Something Happening 541.997.1994 | 888.968.4086 715 Q UINCE S TREET F LORENCE , OR 97439 WWW . EVENTCENTER . ORG Tuesday, June 19, 2018 Two Showings @ City Lights Cinema 1:30pm • 6:30pm Tickets are FREE* Admission tickets are required and available at City City Lights Cinema 1920 HWY 101 *Only 230 tickets available, fi rst come, fi rst served. Limit 4 per person. Representatives will be available for a Q&A after each showing. Watch “In Search of the Lord’s Way” Sunday, 7:30 AM KMTR Cable Channel 12 Western Lane Translator Channel 16.2 Then visit the Florence church of Christ 1833 Tamarack Florence, Oregon and experience the joy and simplicity of pre-denominational New Testament Worship. (Romans 16:16) Bible Study: Sunday, 10:00 am Worship: Sunday, 11:00 am www.churchofchristfl orence.org