News
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, August 30, 2017
A3
City lays out plans for internet coalition
pital and county courthouse.
The third phase will extend
services to residents through
either fiber to the home or
wireless service.
The fourth phase will
extend service to the north-
ern and western parts of
the county where lower
population densities will
likely require a wireless
solution.
Green said he hoped to
have the intergovernmental
agreement adopted in Sep-
tember and begin servicing
residents by October of 2018.
County residents could have fiber-optic internet by October of 2018
By Rylan Boggs
Blue Mountain Eagle
John Day City Manager
Nick Green.
Using the roughly $1.8
million provided by the state,
the city of John Day plans to
provide access to high-speed
internet to John Day, Seneca,
Prairie City and Canyon City.
These four communities
plan to partner with Grant
County to form the Grant
County Digital Network Co-
alition, with John Day acting
as the lead agency, accord-
ing to City Manager Nick
Green.
While the $1.8 million
from the state is enough to
install a fiber optic line from
Prairie City to Burns, Green
said the coalition would use
the funds as match money for
grants to help fund the proj-
ect.
Cost sharing would be
based on the population, with
John Day paying 23 percent,
Prairie City paying 12 per-
cent, Canyon City paying 10
percent, Seneca paying 3 per-
cent and Grant County paying
52 percent.
Green said he was unsure
if the coalition would provide
the service as a utility or if the
coalition would contract with
a private firm to provide these
services. He said the average
download speed in the county
is about 10 megabits per sec-
ond, and he expects 30 mega-
bits or faster from the new
network.
The network will be creat-
ed in four phases with the first
phase being the design and fi-
nancing of the network.
The second phase will
construct the main fiber
optic line from Prairie City
through John Day and into
Burns where it will link up
with the network there. Con-
nections will be made to
schools, city halls, the hos-
Firefighters extinguish
blaze in John Day
By Rylan Boggs
Blue Mountain Eagle
A fire scorched grass,
trees and a building Saturday
morning in John Day.
A Juniper Ridge Acute
Care Facility employee
called to report the fire at
about 9:45 a.m., and John
Day Police Department,
John Day Fire Department,
Canyon City Fire Depart-
ment, Oregon Department of
Forestry and the John Day
Fire burns 25-
35 acres near
Mt. Vernon
Blue Mountain Eagle
A fire burned 25-35 acres
near Mt. Vernon on Monday
night.
The fire, southwest of Mt.
Vernon in the Riley Creek
area, was initially called in by
Mt. Vernon Fire Department
just after 9:30 p.m., according
to John Day dispatch.
Mt. Vernon Fire Department,
John Day Fire Department, Can-
yon City Fire Department and
the United States Forest Service
responded and contained the fire
by 1 a.m., according to dispatch.
No structures were damaged,
and no injuries were reported.
The cause of the grass fire is
currently unknown, but dispatch
received reports of a number of
lightning-caused fires.
ambulance responded.
The fire, just west of Ju-
niper Ridge, was roughly an
eighth of an acre when fire-
fighters arrived and quickly
contained it.
A small shed was de-
stroyed, and the cause of the
fire is still unknown.
Crews had the fire under
control quickly and were
mopping up just after 10:30
a.m., according to John Day
dispatch.
The John Day Fire De-
partment was still inves-
tigating the fire Monday
afternoon and was not
able to state the cause,
according to Lt. Ronda
Metler.
The Eagle/Rylan Boggs
A firefighter drags a hose to a blaze west of the Juniper Ridge Acute Care Facility Saturday, Aug. 26. The fire was
roughly an eighth of an acre and firefighters quickly contained it.
State economists: Taxpayers can expect a ‘kicker’
By Claire Withycombe
Capital Bureau
State economists say near-
ly $464 million will be re-
turned to taxpayers next year,
after income tax collections
were higher than expected.
Oregon operates on two-
year budget cycles. The most
recent biennial cycle con-
cluded June 30.
When income tax collec-
tions exceed projections for
the state’s budget period by
more than 2 percent, Oregon
law requires that the mon-
ey be returned to taxpayers,
a phenomenon called the
“kicker.”
Since the state has collect-
ed about 2.3 percent more
than predicted in May 2015,
about $463.5 million will be
returned to personal income
taxpayers during next year’s
tax filing period.
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A similar “kicker” rule ap-
plies to corporate income tax-
es, except the excess is kept
and set aside for education
funding. Corporate excise
taxes ended the biennium at
about $111 million more than
the close of session forecast.
Wednesday’s forecast was
the first after a legislative ses-
sion where revenue was a key
point of contention between
legislators who advocated
for restructuring the state’s
tax system to boost revenue
and those who wanted to cut
costs.
Senate Minority Leader
Ted Ferrioli, R-John Day, ar-
gued that the strong forecast
and the expected “kicker”
indicated that a sales tax on
corporate sales was unneces-
sary.
“To me, this forecast sig-
nals two things: first, that we
do not need a gross receipts
sales tax, as our budget is in
balance and our economy is
producing surpluses,” Ferrio-
li said, “And second, Orego-
nians will have larger refunds
or lower tax bills which will
act as a further economic
stimulus.”
Senate Majority Leader
Ginny Burdick, D-Portland,
said that the forecast showed
“our policies are supporting
a more prosperous statewide
economy.”
However, she also advo-
cated for tax reform.
“The economy swings up
and down, and the respon-
sible thing to do right now,
while we enjoy the good
times, is to take a serious look
at our revenue structure,”
Burdick said. “We need to
use this time to create a more
stable system that works for
all Oregonians.”
Many Democrats had ad-
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vocated for tax reform during
the session, specifically shift-
ing from a corporate income
tax to a tax on corporate sales.
In the next biennium,
which began July 1 and ends
June 30, 2019, the “kicker”
will mean a slightly lower
general fund revenue out-
look, but will likely be off-
set by a robust lottery sales
forecast, new legislation and
higher ending balances, state
economists said.
While Oregon’s econom-
ic growth has slowed from
previous levels, overall, the
state’s economy is still per-
forming well.
“Our growth still looks
great compared to the typical
state,” said State Economist
Mark McMullen, who added
that there were some signs of
slowdown, in indicators of
income such as salaries and
wages, as well as retirement
and investment income.
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown
promoted the state’s job
growth and used the econom-
ic forecast as an opportunity
to tout the state’s economic
development policies.
“Oregon businesses and
workers develop world-class
products and ideas — and
that’s something to cele-
brate,” Brown said. “But we
can’t rest on our laurels.”
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