DALLAS PERFORMS
CROSS-COUNTRY
‘LITTLE SHOP’
DALLAS
Page 5A
Volume 142, Issue 43
www.Polkio.com
Page 12A
$1.00
October 25, 2017
Property tax bills are on the way
Itemizer-Observer staff report
POLK COUNTY — Prop-
erty tax bills are in the
mail, or should be soon,
and many owners will see
a reduction in their taxes
for 2017-18, said Polk
County Assessor Doug
Schmidt.
“According to numbers
submitted by the Assessor’s
Office, a significant number
of property owners could
see a decrease in their prop-
erty taxes this year,” Schmidt
said in a news release about
2017-18 property taxes.
“Even though a property’s
assessed value may have in-
creased by 3 percent or
more, the taxes on the prop-
erty may not have increased
the same amount.”
The reason behind that is
changes to the amount of
property taxes needed to
repay bonds in certain tax-
ing districts, Schmidt said.
2017-18 Polk County Property Tax Averages
Note: The values shown below are for demonstration purposes
and may not reflect the actual Average Assessed Value for that city.
Average
Assessed
Value
Tax
Rate
Percentage
Average
Yearly
Taxes
Change
from
2016-17
Dallas
Falls City
Independence
Monmouth
$157,334
$58,022
$126,807
$151,558
14.2780
11.8714
18.9401
17.3278
$2,246
$689
$2,402
$2,626
-0.6%
-0.8%
-1.8%
-2.1%
West Salem
Willamina
$205,744
$87,111
17.5615
14.5746
$3,613
$1,270
2.4%
-1.3%
Source: Polk County Assessor
Graphic by Kathy Huggins/ Itemizer-Observer
Polk County paid off its
road bond recently, reduc-
ing the countywide tax rate
by 50 cents per $1,000 of as-
sessed value. Central School
District reduced its bond re-
quirements by 44 cents per
$1,000, reducing taxes in its
district. Those reductions
could mean a decrease in
property taxes from 2016-17,
Schmidt said.
Not everyone will see
property tax bills fall. The
exceptions are those who
live in West Salem and in the
Southwest Polk Rural Fire
Protection District, where
taxes required to pay for
bonds increased.
“Both the city of Salem
and the Salem-Keizer School
District increased their bond
repayment requirements, so
West Salem will see an in-
crease in their taxes this
year,” Schmidt wrote. “How-
ever, because the Polk
County bond was paid off,
West Salem property owners
may not see the full 3 per-
cent increase in their taxes.”
The same is true of South-
west Polk, which passed a
bond to pay for equipment
and fire stations.
See TAXES, Page 7A
Can you solve the mystery?
The Itemizer-Observer
DALLAS — A murderer
hides among Dallas’ colorful
cast of characters.
Is it Finn Burgundy?
Maybe Pram Peach or Wolfe
Indigo? Perhaps it is Mayor
White.
You get to play detective
on Saturday during the Dal-
las Downtown Murder Mys-
tery, as characters reveal
clues and possible motives.
At the beginning of the
event, you are given clues,
and a map of downtown to
guide you to each suspect to
gather more evidence.
Be careful who you trust,
though, because they all
have secrets.
“There’s a dark underbelly
in this town,” said Burgundy,
the director of the local the-
ater troupe, Moon Shadow
Playhouse.
He would know. Others in
town say he might be part of
it, with the taking of bribes
for parts in his productions
and the not-so-secret drink-
ing problem.
“I don’t drink. Not at all.
Maybe one — or four,” Bur-
gundy said. “If you had to
put up with all the charac-
ters I put up with, you’d
drink, too.”
Then again, he demands a
lot of his actors and crew, so
they may spread rumors out
of revenge.
Or to hide their own guilt.
Pram Peach, Moon Shad-
ow Playhouse’s costume de-
signer, has dreams of de-
signing clothes for movie
stars.
“My goal is to make it to
Hollywood and have my
things shown on the red car-
pet,” Peach said. “I’ve been
sending my stuff to stars, but
I haven’t gotten anything
back from them yet. I’m just
kind of frustrated and wait-
ing to see if you can get
something to go to the red
carpet with.”
See MURDER, Page 11A
The Itemizer-Observer
DALLAS — Warning: Or-
ganizers of “Welcome to the
Movies,” a haunted house at
877 Main St., Dallas, ask all
who enter to sign a waiver.
That’s how scary it can be.
“A lot of people are in
here — it’s mainly people,
not so much props,” said
Mellissa Hoover, organizer
and scarer. “There are props
to set the scene, but I have a
lot of volunteers. There’s 30
scarers in here. It’s pretty
packed.”
Each “scarer” is ready to
jump out when visitors least
expect it — even if it’s their
THE NEXT
7
DAYS
PLANNING
FOR YOUR
WEEK
second time through.
“The experience changes
almost daily,” Hoover said.
“It’s never the same.”
Volunteer zombies and
monsters aren’t heartless,
especially with children.
They have a code word
parents can use with the ac-
tors let them know to tone it
down for little ones, if need-
ed.
If visitors are too afraid to
turn the first corner, they’ll
get a refund of their dona-
tion-admission.
“We’ve had four teenagers
who turned around and
came back. They were too
scared,”Hoover said.
See HAUNTED, Page 3A
wed
Dallas High School
stages “Little Shop of
Horrors” just in time for
Halloween.
»Page 5A
FALLS CITY
Falls City football will
host North Douglas in a
league playoff game.
»Page 14A
INDEPENDENCE
Central High School’s
production of “The Ad-
dams Family ” is all
about growing up.
»Page 2A
MONMOUTH
»Page 3A
SPORTS
Central’s boys soccer
team defeats Corvallis
1-0.
»Page 12A
POLK COUNTY
Check out all the Hal-
loween events around
the county.
»Page 11A
Salem Health
West Valley
receives award
Itemizer-Observer staff report
JOLENE GUZMAN/Itemizer-Observer
Doug Graven, left, Mark Sturtevant and Carol Chaney all portray characters.
Welcome to your nightmare
By Emily Mentzer
DALLAS
Increasing popula-
tion is behind city
council zoning change.
Dallas Downtown Association hosts
unique murder mystery on Saturday
By Jolene Guzman
IN
YOUR
TOWN
EMILY MENTZER/ Itemizer-Observer
DALLAS — The Oregon
Office of Rural Health has
recognized Salem Health
West Valley hospital as the
top performing Critical Ac-
cess Hospital for the sec-
ond year in a row.
"We're proud of our re-
porting team and our lean
problem-solving culture
here at the hospital," said
Bruce Rodgers, Salem
Health West Valley chief
administrative officer. "Un-
derstanding our quality
measures shows us our
successes and opportuni-
ties for improvement. It's
all part of getting better
every day."
The Federal Office of
Rural Health Policy creat-
ed the Medicare Quality
Improvement Program in
2011 to implement meas-
ures focused on low-vol-
ume critical access hospi-
tals. The program helps
small hospitals identify
measures that fit best and
ensure the highest quality
patient care.
All 25 of Oregon's critical
assess hospitals participate
in the voluntary program.
Mellissa Hoover, right, and her cast of “scarers” and ready to terrify you for a cause.
thu
fri
sat
sun
Need a new hobby?
Try pickleball, a
newish sport some-
what similar to ten-
nis, at Roger Jordan
Community Park.
9 a.m. Free.
Oregon author Willy
Vlautin speaks
about his novels, in-
cluding one to be
released soon, at the
Dallas Public Library.
7 p.m. Free.
Dallas Seventh-day
Adventist Church
starts three-day
documentary series
for Martin Luther’s
500th anniversary.
7 p.m. Free.
The Polk Community
Free Clinic offers
health care for the
uninsured and un-
derinsured at Trinity
Lutheran in Dallas.
7 a.m. Free.
Dallas resident Re-
becca Fromherz per-
forms with Salem
Concert Band at the
Elsinore Theatre in
Salem.
3 p.m. $10-$30.
Partly sunny
Hi: 65
Lo: 45
Mostly sunny
Hi: 66
Lo: 42
Sunny
Hi: 66
Lo: 44
Sunny
Hi: 65
Lo: 45
Mostly sunny
Hi: 63
Lo: 43
mon
Salem Health West
Valley hosts a
fundraiser sale at
the hospital. Pro-
ceeds provide stu-
dent scholarships.
9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Mostly sunny
Hi: 61
Lo: 43
tue
Happy Halloween!
Have a fun and safe
holiday, and be sure
to watch for little
ghosts and goblins
as they trick-or-
treat.
Partly cloudy
Hi: 63
Lo: 43
