PROSPECTORS WIN DISTRICT TITLE
The
– PAGE B1
Blue Mountain
EAGLE
Grant County’s newspaper since 1868
W EDNESDAY , F EBRUARY 22, 2017
• N O . 8
• 22 P AGES
• $1.00
www.MyEagleNews.com
Man who
killed
John Day
cop will
be freed
By Sean Hart
Blue Mountain Eagle
T AX
?
INCREASE
Your Taxes: Past, present and potential future
The Eagle/Sean Hart
Grant County
Assessor David
Thunell explains
how each property
in the county is
categorized by
the tax districts in
which it is located.
Grant County property values (Millions of dollars)
By Sean Hart
Blue Mountain Eagle
$1,500 million
P
roposals under consideration by the
Oregon Legislature could substan-
tially increase property taxes.
Although no concrete plan has
emerged, the League of Oregon
Cities has advocated reworking the tax limits
and structure approved by voters in the 1990s.
These limits and how they are implemented
have essentially defi ned
Oregon property taxes
EDITOR’S
for the last 20 years.
NOTE: This
Although
Grant is the second
County Assessor David entry in the
Thunell said many as- Eagle’s 2017
sessors believe Oregon “Your Tax-
has the most complicated es” series, in
property tax system in which we will
the nation, understand- examine all 27
ing the two key measures taxing districts
that established the cur- in Grant Coun-
rent system provides a ty so you know
basic overview.
where your
property taxes
The old levy system
are going.
Before voters ap-
proved Measure 5 and
Measure 50 in the ’90s, Oregon’s property
taxes were based on a levy system. Budget
committees for the taxing districts — such as
cities, school districts and counties — would
determine the total amount of funding needed,
and this total was divided up proportionately
among the properties in the district based on
their real market value.
See TAX, Page A12
1 Real market value is the estimated selling price and
$1,309.5: Up 4.4% from 2015-16
the basis for Measure 5’s $15 limit for most properties.
1,200
2 With Measure 50 in 1997-98,
Real market value
Measure 5 value (RMV less
the taxable or assessed value is
separated from real market value.
900
special assessment discounts)
Assessed value
$673.5
600
$287
$549.8
300
In 1999, the forestland program is established as a special tax assessment and
farm special assessment calculations are changed. For these special assessments,
Measure 5’s limits are based on the reduced amounts known as Measure 5 value.
3
0
1995-
96
’97-
98
’99- ’00-
00 01
’05-
06
Sources: Grant County Assessor’s Office; Oregon Dept. of Revenue
’10-
11
’15- 2016-
16 17
Sean Hart and Alan Kenaga/EO Media Group
Cities push reforms to increase property tax revenues
By Claire Withycombe
Capital Bureau
A
s legislators set to work
on balancing the state’s
budget, some lawmak-
ers and lobbyists are consider-
ing property tax reform to ben-
efi t local government budgets.
In particular, supporters
want to change how property
taxes are calculated, and re-
move limits on tax rates.
Two ballot measures ap-
proved by voters in the 1990s,
Measure 5 and Measure 50,
limited the amount of property
taxes Oregonians pay, and an-
nual tax increases.
Measure 5, passed in 1990,
limited the total tax rates lev-
ied by all local taxing bodies
to no more than $15 per $1,000
of real market property value
— up to $5 for education, and
$10 for other local taxing bod-
ies.
Measure 50, passed in
1997, decoupled a property’s
assessed valuation, the amount
on which it is taxed, from real
market value, according to
See REVENUE, Page A12
City manager proposes economic development plan
By Rylan Boggs
Blue Mountain Eagle
John Day City Manager
Nick Green is ready to take on
John Day’s failing infrastruc-
ture, population decline and
unemployment rate.
To address these problems,
Green is proposing a three-
pronged approach. He wants
to make John Day a more
desirable place to live, adjust
city spending to support im-
provement projects and fi nd
investors and partners to help
the city grow.
“If we can regain the popu-
lation we’ve lost over the last
30 years by differentiating our
city to achieve a more compet-
itive position, our businesses
will become more profi table,
new jobs will be created and
The Eagle/Rylan Boggs
A water tank above John Day.
public
ser-
vices
will
become more
efficient,”
Green said.
“More
im-
p o r t a n t l y,
Nick
making in-
Green
vestments in
our economy will improve the
quality of life for all John Day
residents.”
Grant County has the high-
est unemployment rate in the
state at 7.2 percent, according
to the Oregon Employment
Department, and the sec-
ond-lowest median household
income in Oregon at $32,614
per household, according to
Green.
He wants to attract young
working families, active retir-
ees and digital commuters to
create a more diverse and re-
silient local economy, which
will promote growth in insti-
tutions like schools and hos-
pitals.
Young working families
will help bring fresh ideas into
the community, boost school
enrollment and contribute to
the local economy, he said,
and attracting active retirees
with disposable income would
boost the local economy.
Digital commuters often
have a choice where they live,
he said, and John Day’s out-
door opportunities could be
an excellent incentive to at-
tract them. However, the city
needs better broadband con-
nectivity fi rst.
Green said the city has the
See PLAN, Page A7
The man who pleaded
guilty to killing a John Day
police offi cer in 1992 will
soon be
freed.
T h e
Oregon
Supreme
Court
Feb. 16
denied a
request to
Sidney
review an
a p p e a l s Dean Porter
court de-
cision that reinstated Sidney
Dean Porter’s 2013 prison
release date due to legal er-
rors that year by the Board
of Parole and Post-Prison
Supervision.
Grant County District
Attorney Jim Carpenter said
the board will now begin
putting together a release
plan for Porter, who killed
Offi cer Frank Ward April 8,
1992.
“After all the hard work
that my staff and I put in to
ensure that Porter would re-
main incarcerated, the deci-
sion of the Supreme Court is
disappointing, but not unex-
pected,” Carpenter said.
Porter had pleaded guilty
to aggravated murder. Ac-
cording to the appeals court
opinion, Porter attacked
Ward, who had responded to
a report of domestic violence
at Porter’s residence. Porter
“bludgeoned Ward with his
fi sts and a 10-pound piece
of fi rewood,” according to
the opinion, and the autopsy
revealed a skull fracture and
contusions in Ward’s brain.
After Carpenter’s tes-
timony before the parole
board in 2015, the board
ruled Porter was a danger
to the community and or-
dered him to remain in cus-
tody until at least 2020. In
September 2016, however,
the Oregon Court of Ap-
peals overturned the parole
board’s decision to postpone
Porter’s 2013 prison release
date, stating the board lacked
authority to rescind a release
date “absent a timely hear-
ing,” according to the court
opinion.
“A defi ning principle of
our legal system is that both
sides have the opportunity to
be heard before decisions are
made which affect them,”
Carpenter said. “The Court
of Appeals found that Porter
was not given such an op-
portunity, and the Supreme
Court apparently agrees.”
The appeals court ruled
the parole board should not
have postponed the 2013
release date without a time-
ly hearing. Carpenter, who
was elected in 2014, said a
June 2013 release date was
issued after a former district
attorney failed to present ev-
idence at an exit interview
earlier that year.
Although more evidence
was provided after that in-
terview, the parole board
did not hold a hearing with
Porter until September 2013,
after postponing the June re-
lease date. The appeals court
ruled evidence present-
ed after the postponement
of the release date could
not be used to justify the
postponement that already
occurred.