V2 Measure Analysis Shows Possible Effects
Editor's Note: Hon Daniels,
Morrow county school super
intendent, has analyzed the
1V property tux limitation
conMitutionat amend me n t,
which will bo on the Novem
ber 5 election ballot. The Gazette-Times
la publishing sub
Manual portions of his anuly
Ms In order to help Inform
voter. The flint part follows
with other segment to come
in the next two weeks).
PROPOSED CONSTITUTIONAL
AMENDMENT
Not: Th light face text Is
the proposal as tt will appear on
the ballot. Intervening com
ments by Daniels are In bold
type).
lor an Art to amend the Con
stitution of the State of Oregon
bv repealing the entire text of
Section 11 of Article XI thereof
relating to the six percent limi
tation of the ad valorem tax
on property and substituting
tierefor provisions for limiting
the ad valorem tax on both real
property and personal property
to one and one-half percent of
the market value thereof and
providing for the Implementa
tion thereof.
(Comment: The amendment
as proposed eliminates all pres
ent tax bases and the 6 in
crease permitted without a vote
of the people. The 6 limita
tion was created by initiative
petition In 1916. but the large
tax increases have not been a
result of the 6 increase, but
rather by voter approval outside
the 6 limitation. The l'j
limitation doesnt change the
right to vote outside the liml
taUon. but It does make it much
more difficult
BE IT ENACTED bv the peo
pie of thp State of Oregon:
That the entire text of Sec
tlon 11 of Article XI of the Con
stitution of the State of Oregon
be, and hereby is, regaled and
the following new matter sub
stituted therefor:
Section 11. TAX LIMITATION.
(6 repealed)
II) The total amount of taxes
which may be levied against
any real or personal property In
any year shall be limited to
one and one-half percent of the
true cash value of such prop
erty.
COLE ELECTRIC
Motor Rewinding
I INDUSTRIAL - COMMERCIAL
FARM AND HOME
Pendleton 276-77611
(Comment: This section sim
ply limits the property tax levy
to l'i7. oi true cash value.
This is SIS per SI. 000 of True
Cash Value. This figure repre
sents the amount to be levied
for all taxing aqencies. Taxes
could automatically increase as
the TCV of a district increased.
Some code areas not now levy
ing IVt could increase without
a vote).
(2) The limitation provided
In subsection (1) of this section
shall not apply to that portion
of any tax levied which is for
the payment of bonded indebt
edness or the Interest thereon,
if the indebtedness existed pri
or to November 5, 1908.
(Comment: This section ex
cludes all bonded indebtedness
existing prior to November S.
1968, from the 1Vi limitation,
This means that the Morrow
county school district can levy
the .65 per SI. 000 True Cash
Value for our R-l Bonds and In
terest in excess of the l'i
l'roitation. It appears that user
charges and special assessments
can be included on the state
ments, and I am sure that there
will be an increase in this type
charge irrigation, front footage
basis on sewers, streets and
other improvements).
(3) The limitation provided
in subsection (1) of this sec
tion shall not apply to any tax
levy when submitted by a tax
ing unit to the voters therein
on the first Tuesday after the
first Monday In November of
anv year and approved by
malority of the voters voting
thereon which malority must a
so be not less than 20 of the
registered voters entitled to vote
thereon at said election.
(Comments: Permits tax lev!
ies in excess of I'i of true
cash value if two conditions are
met: 1. The election must be
held en the first Tuesday after
the first Monday in November.
The date is set to coincide with
the general election in even
numbered years. This section Is
very restrictive in that It per
mlts only on election each
year. The time of the election
Is also vrv poor in that budg
ets must be prepared before re
alistic budget figures are avail
able, or they lore the taxing
agency to operate for four
months In the dark waiting lor
voter approval or re lection. An
other interesting feature is that
It will not permit a vote out
side the li limitation until
November. 1969, which means
that all taxing agencies would
b forced to live within the Urn
itation for the 1969-70 budget
The Attorney General's office
has been asked tor an opinion
on whether or not it would be
legal to vote this November on
funds for the 1969-70 budget.
The 10 people in the Attorney
General's office are split down
the middle on this question, and
it appears obvious that no de
cision will be made in time to
vote this year. The reason seems
to be a question of whether It
is legal to vote on a measure
that would not b effective un
til 30 days following the vote
if it were passed. Reynolds
School District has decided to
vote and test the legality of the
election at a later date.
The second conflict that must
be met is that the vote to ex
ceed the 1Vi limitation must
receive a malority approval by
20 of the registered voters. In
Morrow county that would re
quire a yes vote of 432 in order
for the election to be valid. On
ly three times in 10 years have
we received this number of yes
votes on our first school elec
tions. This may be very diffi
cult to achieve in odd number
ed years (when there is no gen-
VOTE FOR
Ji)
n
SMGfl
DEMOCRAT
CANDIDATE FOR SHERIFF
I ' - I
I -' fi ' 'fgr It 1 - I
f ' M ' ' V V ' ' $
I" Vi Uj , 1
X b-., A'
w
Family History of Public Service
High School Graduate Attended Gonzaga
College Level Studies at BMCC
U.
4 Years Full Time Service as Heppner
City Policeman
Good Record of Financial Dealings
IF ELECTED:
-One Sheriff Responsible to All the Voters of Morrow
County
-Only Qualified Persons Will be Delegated Deputy
Responsibility
Office Will Not be Controlled by Special Interests
But By Law and the Entire Public
Regain Respect for Office of Sheriff
In Morrow County
(Pd. adv. by John F. Mollahan, Heppner, Oregon 97836)
eral election and the taxing
agency's vote wouia oe the on.
ly Issu on the ballot). Voters
staying horn automatically be
"no" votes.
(4) The Legislative Assembly
may enact legislation to carry
out the provisions of subsection
(II and 12).
(Comment: This section
grants to th legislature auth
ority to Implement the provis
ions of th first two sections.
It must decide which method
to us In the collection of the
funds and a formula for the dis
tribution to the several affected
taxing units In each county).
The above concludes entire
text of the proposal, and the
following is more analysis by
Daniels:
SUGGESTED METHODS FOR
COLLECTION AND DISTRIBU
TION OF THE lli PROPERTY
TAX FUNDS AND THE TAX
LOSS IN THE VAK1UUS TAX
ING AGENCIES:
1. Loss of revenue to taxing
agencies across the state would
be somewhere between $100
million to $150 million, depend
ing on the method selected for
reducing levies within the 1V4
1 mltation. According to Jay
Gould of the State Tax Commis
sion, no eauitable way has been
found to collect and distribute
the funds in three years of
studv.
2. Tax loss to Morrow County
School District, Morrow County
and the cities in Morrow coun
ty: The amount oi the tax dol
lar that would De lost to tne
various county taxing agencies
is impossible to determine as
the dollar loss would vary ac
cording to the method of collec
tion and distribution selected by
the State Legislature.
Following Is a summary of
some of the methods that have
been suggested and the result
ing loss to this county under
each method:
A. Proportional tax reduction
method.
This system would mean that
many areas of the State would
not pay the full 14 as tne
law reouires that a taxing agen
cy levy equal taxes in all tax
code areas. (Section 32 of Ar
ticle I of the Oregon Constitu
tion). This could result in many
rural areas not paying the full
M. This would result In an
additional loss of available rev
enue and for that reason It Is
not likely to be selected as the
formula for distribution.
B. State Tax Commission es
tablished formula of fixed rates
for the various taxing agencies,
This svstem would Dermit the
State Tax Commission to estao
lish a fixed rate for each taxing
aeencv to collect. The latest for
mula suggested by the State
Tax Commission provides for
$9.50 to schools, 50c to Commu
nity Colleges, $3.00 to cities, and
$2.00 to counties. (Here again
rural areas could levy to re
place the $3 to cities). While
this type formula seems to be
favored by the State Tax Com
mission there are still some un
answered questions in this area.
First, no provision is made to
provide funds for Port Commis
sions, Cemetery Districts, Park
Districts, and other special tax
ing agencies. Second, it has not
been determined whether the
funds would be collected local
ly or whether the State would
levy the 1M: property tax and
then redistribute the funds to
the local taxing agency under
a special formula. If this meth
od is selected, it would mean
that areas with a high true cash
value per capita would pay in
more than they would receive
in return. The State could legal
ly levy a state property tax but
it would require repealing leg
islation passed by the 1969 leg
islature. At the present time the
State can levy a property tax
tor bonded Indebtedness only.
Heppner Bank Staff
Clerks Livestock
Sale at Exposition
Staff of the Heppner Branch,
First National Hunk, which
does such an efficient lob of
clerking the livestock sale at
the Morrow county fair each
year, graduated to the "big
league ' this yeur.
The crew was called up to
clerk the Blue Ribbon Live,
stock sale at the Pacific Inter
national Livestock ExiKisition
on Tuesday, October 8. They
found it an en lovable exper
ience even though they put
In a long and busy day that
didn't end until 3:30 a.m.
Wednesday.
Those from the branch who
staffed the crew were Mana
ger John Venard and Mrs.
Venard. Mrs. Dean Gilman
and Marshall Cornett. Several
others at the Exposition as
sisted them.
The $60,000 sale started at
7:30 In the evening, but the
crew started at 2 p.m. to pre
pare for it. Five hundred head
of livestock were sold, and the
grand champion steer, from
the Double T Hereford Ranch
at Connell. Wash., brought
S2.75 per lb., a total of $2777.
Two lambs sold for approxi
mately $6 per lb., one bring
ing $500 and the other $600.
HEPPNER GAZETTE-TIMES. Thursday. October 17. 1961
HOSPITAL NEWS
Patients admitted to Pioneer
Memorial hospital during the
past week, and are still receiv
ing medical care. Include the
following: Richard Peterson,
lone; Rufus Piper, Htnpner;
James Roland. Spray; llattie
Carpenter, Heppner; 6. L. Ad
ams, Klnzua, and Lewis Cason,
Heppner.
Those dismissed, after receiv
ing medical care, were the fol
lowing: Thomas Griffith, Hepp
ner. and Gregory Sweek, Heppner
Time Change Oct. 27
No, It Isn't time to change
that clock back an hour yet, but
it soon will be. Oregon goes oft
daylight time on Sunday, 0io
ber 27. The last Sunday In Oc
tober is fixed bv state statuto
as the time for the change.
Clocks and watches will be set
back one hour, bringing day
light earlier In the morning but
hastening the coming of dark
ness each afternon.
Gazette-Times want ads pay.
Andersons Have Girl
Mr. and Mrs. David Anderson
of Albany are announcing the
birth of their second daughter,
Annissa Elizabeth, born Satur
day, October 12, weighing 8 lb.,
6 oz. She loins a 13-month-old
sister. Katrina. Grandparents
are Mr. and Mrs. Jim Bloods-
worth, Heppner, and Mr. and
Mrs. Nels Anderson, Dallas.
Great-grandparents are Mr. and
Mrs. Charles Bloodsworth, Lex
ington, and N. C. Anderson of
Lisbon, N. D.
v x
rv enenp crv , i ntw;
ARE PLENTY OF FIRST
AID SUPPLIES FROM
MURRAY'S
ESdrug
IN THE MEDICINE
Simple legislation, and not a
constitutional amendment
would be required to change
this.
C. County by county assign
ment of tax levies following
budget reviews by members of
the Stat Tax Commission.
(To be continued next week).
MONEY . . . Means to an End .
THE MEANS TO A NEW CAR
THE MEANS TO AN EDUCATION
THE MEANS TO A TRIP
THE MEANS TO A SECURE FUTURE
THE MEANS TO A NEW HOME
WATCH IT GROW TOWARDS THESE ENDS WHEN
YOU DEPOSIT IT HERE
OPEN AN ACCOUNT TODAY
ACCOUNTS NOW INSURED TO $154)00
FIRST FEDERAL
SAVINGS & LOAN ASSOCIATION
BOX 848
PENDLETON
lis
ALWAYS FIRST QUALITY "
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