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TWO The Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon, Thursday, June 29, 1978
Siftinglhrough
The Heppner
GAZETTE-TIMES
17PDCGi7
tKTIMES
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Freedom's Day:
Fourth of July
Freedom's day: Fourth of July
Wave, Old Glory
Wave staff high
Shouting freedom to all the world
You were there when the flag of freedom was unfurled.
You walked with our forefathers all the way;
Their emblem of courage, hope and freedom, day by
day.;
As you wave today.
We pause remembering our many freedoms ;
All our hopes have come true
So wave today from every rooftop in our land,
And in free lands half the world away.
Wave, banner of the free
With you bright colors unfurled
Proclaim freedom to all the world.
Katherine Rozelle Farrar
for July 4, 1978
OTHERS SAY:
Oregon's tax situation
is different from
California's...
The initiative petition being
circulated in Oregon that
would limit property taxes to
1'2 per cent of true cash value
has gained support from irate
voters.
On the other side are
govenment leaders state,
county and city that are
worried about the effects the
initiative would have on oper
ations of those government
" units.
Part of the concern stems
from the fact that Oregon's
peition is virtually the same as
the one passed recently in
California, although taxing
methods in the two state differ
dramatically both in the col
lection and refunding of taxes.
The League of Oregon Cities
has taken a position opposed
to the petition, based on their
review of the measure and the
following analysis.
The proposed initiative is
literally a copy of "Proposi
tion 13 The Jarvis Amend
ment" recently approved in
California. The initial filing of
the petition with the Secretary
of State's office was a photo
copy of the California initia
tive with "Oregon" substi
tuted for "California" and
"12" substituted for "1".
The following is meant to be
an initial assessment of some
of the impacts that would be
felt by Oregon cities and their
citizens should the initiatiave
be successful in Oregon. All
estimates of impact, both
fiscal and otherwise are
necessarily preliminary at
this point and are subject to
revision as additional infor
mation is accumulated.
1. The proposal seeks to
limit the maximum property
tax in all areas of the state to
$15.00 per thousand "full cash
value" (a term not used in
Oregon but probably synono
mous with true cash value) as
measured by 1975 assessed
THEi
GAZETTE -TIMES
The Official Newspaper of the City of Heppner
and the County of Morrow
Published evwry Thursday and entered as second-class matter at the Post Office at Heppner, Oregon, under the Act
of March 3, 1879. Second-class postage paid at Heppner, Oregon.
i G.M. Reed, Publisher Dolores Reed, Co-publisher ferry M.Hager, Managing Editor
i Rick Steelhammer, News Editor Eileen Saling, Officer Manager
Gayle Rush, Composing Chloe Pearson, Composing Justine Weatherford , Local Columnist
Ron Jordan, Printer
values or appraised value on
later sale or new construction.
So, whether 2, or 22, taxing
units levy taxes on property in
an area, the maximum con
solidated rate levied by all the
taxing units would be $15.00
per thousand. The proposal
does not prescribe how the
$15.00 will be divided among
the taxing districts which
means the legislature would
have to make this determina
tion. The State Legislative Reve
nue Office will be preparing
for the legislature an estimate
of the impact of the initiative
on each taxing body. For
projection purposes they are
prorating the $15.00 based on
the total share of 1977-78
statewide levies made by
cities, counties, community
colleges and school districts.
On this basis the $15.00 would
be allocated as follows : cities
$2.25, counties $1.50, com
munity colleges $.75, and
schools $10.50. Special dis
tricts would be excluded. This
approach uses readily avail
able information to develop
timely estimate's of potential
fiscal impact. The legislature
will, however, be presented
with other allocation formulas
before it makes its decision.
2. The Legislative Revenue
Office has made the following
preliminary assumptions:
1977-78 property tax levies
equal approximately $900 mil
lion statewide. Average state
wide property tax rate is
approximately $22.42 per
$1,000 True Cash Value.
If a l'2 per cent limitation
had been imposed in 1977-78,
local property taxes would
have been reduced approxi
mately $375 million (a 42 per
cent decrease in local pro
perty tax revenues.
3. The taxes that cities
currently levy for redemption
and interest for previously
approved bonds ($11 million in
1977-78) will not be affected by
the initiative. However the
proposed tax limitation ap
plies to any taxes levied for
indebtedness approved by he
voters after the effective date
of the measure (July 1, 1979.)
The passage of "proposition
13" in California, with its
effective date of July 1, 1978,
has prompted the Wall Street
firm of Standard and Poors, a
bond rating service, to sus
pend its ratings of California
bond issues based on property
taxes as the main source of
revenues. Any such limitation
in Oregon would create uncer
tainty about the rating of
bonds and affect rates of
interest.
4. Revenue sharing alloca
tions to both cities and
counties from the federal
government will be affected
since the amount of local
property tax effort is a key
element in the distribution
formula and Oregon would be
disadvantaged relative to
other states if replacement
revenue does not fit into the
category of "adjusted taxes".
A reduction of some $350-400
million in local governemt
revenues would have a further
impact as local units would
no longer be able to provide
local matching funds to secure
many federal or state grants.
In addition, direct transfer
of funds to federal and state
governemtns would occur
since the rollback in property
taxes is anticipated to provide
about $90 million more in
income tax revenues for the
federal government and about
$10 million more in income tax
revenues to the state. This will
occur because of lowered
propety tax deductions on IRS
forms. The $100 million per
year Homeowner and Renter
Relief Program at the state
level would possibly be se
verely cut back thus making
more money available at the
state leve.
5. Local governments face
certain mandates by state and
federal governments in the
provision of local services
which must be paid for locally.
These services must be funded
before any local "discre
tionary" services are provi
ded. State and federal man
dates will still be required if
the initiative passes and,
accordingly, any cutbacks will
probably be felt most strongly
in local discretionary pro
grams. 6. California cities operate
on a rate base system rather
than Oregon's tax base system
for property taxes. California
property raxes increased
automatically with inflation
and population growth without
-a vote of the people and,
depending on local govern
ment budgets, taxes could go
up at the same rate as
assessed values.
Things are drastically dif
ferenct in Oregon. Oregon is
the only state to place a limit
on local government revenue
through a voter approved tax
base. Because of the 6 per cent
constitutional limit on the
growth of the tax base, growth
in assessed values has very
little direct or proportional
impact on the amount of
money local governments will
automatically receive.
No city may levy property
taxes without a vote of the
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people. Cities may either have
a voter approved tax base
(which because of the voter
approved constitutional limit
may only grow by 6 per cent
per year), or rely on annual
udget elections for operating
levies. Many cities with tax
bases that have not kept pace
with inflation or population
growth rely on both a tax base
and an annual operating levy.
Tax California Oregon
Sales Tax 6.5 per cent
Property Tax Per Capita $415.23 $332.93
Property Tax Per $1,000 of
Income 64.13 58.74
Property Tax by per cent of
Real Market Value 3.5 per cent 2.22 per cent
State Income Tax Per Capita 137.44 202.73
State Income Tax per $1 ,000 of
Income 21.33 35.77
Combined State Income &
Property Tax Per Capita 552.67 535.66
Oregon, through the Homeowner-Renter
Property Tax
Relief program returns about
$100 million a year as property
tax refunds to middle and low
income homeowners and ren
ters. The Oregon tax structure
has been defined as the most
progressive (i.e. relating tax
burden to ability to pay) in the
nation.
California has a $5 billion
plus surplus of state funds
with which to cushion the
impact of the "Jarvis Amend
ment" on affected local gov
ernments. According to state
officials in Oregon there will
likely be very little state
surplus at the end of this
biennium. In addition, Califor
nia cities receive 1 per cent of
the state's sales tax.
8. Tax Break for Houses or
Industry?
The Oregon Homeowner's
Association is assisting in
collecting signatures to place
the initiative on the ballot. It is
their position that taxes on
Owner occuptied residential property 36 percent
Rental residential property 1 1
Farm residential property 1
Total residential property 48 percent
Timber land 4 percent
Non-residential agricultural land 9
Industrial manufacturing plants . 14
Utility owned property 8
Other business property 17
Total other property 52 per cent
The immediate effect of a
rollback would be to benefit
business property more than
residential property. The Leg
islative Revenue Office sug
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s VV'V N v
It is interesting to note that
almost half (47 per cent) of the
taxes affected if the limitation
were placed on 1977-78 pro
perty taxes were the result of
annual, voter approved, lev
ies, outside previously ap
proved tax bases.
7. The following is a
comparision of taxes in Ore
gon and California as reported
by the U.S. Bureau of Census
for 1976-77:
homes should pay for police
and fire protection, streets,
sewer, water and utilities but
not necessarily schools which
should be funded by the
' legislature.
While the lowering of pro
perty taxes should make
homeownership more attrac
tive there is concern that the
homeowner in the long run
will be hurt. A provision in the
initiative provides that the
fair market value of property
may only rise a maximum of 2
per cent a year. However the
initiative also allows both
property that is sold and new
construction to be placed on
the tax rolls at full value.
Since residential property
changes hands more than
business or industrial proper
ty there is likely to be a
significant shift, over time,
towards residential property
assuming a greater proportion
of property taxes. The current
division between, residential
and business-related property
taxes is:
gests that for 1977-78, residen
tial homeowners would re
ceive approximately a $140
million property tax decrease
(37 per cent of the total), and
Twenty years ago in Heppner, what may have been
Oregon's last runaway horse and buggy incident took place
on Main Street.
Heppner Slaughterhouse owner Harold Johnston had tied
up his antique horse-drawn rig in front of Bucknum's Tavern,
when a playful bystander unhitched the lines from the horse,
which soon became frightened and ran down the street.
Johnston stayed with the buggy for about a block, before
deciding discretion was the better part of valor, then bailed
out, landing in the sitting position on Main Street.
The horse galloped four blocks before the buggy crashed
into a parked car. There, the horse broke its rigging, and
calmly took to grazing on grass in the yard around Dr.
Wolff's office.
That same week in 1958, Glenn Ford and Jack Lemmon
were featured in "Cowboy" at the Star Theater.
The entire two-man Heppner police force was fired 25
year ago this week, following an incident in which a local
man, Paul Doherty, was shot in the foot by one on the
officers.
That same, week in 1953, construction work started on the
school swimming pool at lone, and Marine Private John
Wagner of Heppner was finishing boot camp at Camp
Pendleton, Calif.
World War I was a strone influence on day-to-day life in
Morrow County 60 years ago this week. County teachers and
schoolchildren had purchased a total of $12,500 worth of war
bonds. Patterson & Son's Rexall store was featuring "Uncle
Sam Sundaes" at the soda counter, as well as selling khaki
sets, first aid and sewing kits and trench mirrors to departing
Morrow County servicemen.
This week 60 years ago, nine local men received a
reception in their honor at the Palace Hotel, prior to their
departure for Army training at American Lake, Wash.
Leaving for the war were William Hayes, Homer Frank and
Herbert Haguewood, all of lone; George Clark and LeRoy
Yardley, both of Lexington; Thomas Ingrum of Hardman,
and T.L. Stanliff, William Chapel and Floyd Cobb, all of
Heppner.
T.E. Peterson of Eightmile was offering a $20 reward for
the return of his missing 10-year-old black mule, "which left
my place about March 14."
The Heppner City Council had just passed an ordinance
making it illegal for any physically fit man in Heppner "to
remain idle" during the war effort. Under the new law, all
men were required to work at least 36 hours a week "at some
useful service" or be subject to a $50 fine and 25-day jail
term.
Ten years ago this week, the Morrow County School
Board pared its proposed budget by $50,000 in its third
attempt at passage. The ballot for the budget's second
attempt at passage actually ended up three votes in the
affirmative, but five votes were disqualified on technicali
ties, making the third levy attempt necessary.
A total of six teaching positions were eliminated by the
time the third levy attempt was put to voters.
Five years ago in Heppner, the city council began
deliberations towards approving plans for building 30 new
homes in the Valley View Estates subdivision.
business would receive ap
proximately $235 million in
reductions (63 per cent of the
total). In addition, individuals
already pay a great share of
Oregon income taxes than
corporations and business.
The most recent estimate of
state income tax collections
for the 1977-79 biennium anti
cipates an 86 per cent of total
PICTURE CREDIT
After you're here awhile. ..you get a desk tool That appeared
to be the case for Jerry Healy of Morrow County Abrstract and
Title Co., this week as the firm began moving into their new
building on Main Street. The office furniture hadn't arrived yet...
Uncle Harry isn't really that tough on Jerry.
Letters Foiicy
ALL LETTERS of general interest are welcomed,
providing they are in good taste and not libelous.
250 WORDS IS about the maximum length we can
accept, however, if you need more space, please use
it.
ALL LETTERS MUST be signed to be considered. If
you wish to have your name withheld for good
cause we will do so after' contacting you for an
explanation.
Community
BILLBOARD
Call
676-9228;
June 15
Methodist Youth Fellow
ship, 7:30p.m., United Metho
dist Church
June 17
Morrow County Rodeo
Queen's Coronation, 7:30 p.m.,
fairgrounds. Coronation
dance, 9 p.m.to 1 a.m.
Heppner swimming pool
opens 1 p.m.
June 18
Elks picnic, 11 a.m. Cuts
forth Park
collections will be generated
from individuals and 14 per
cent from business and cor
porate income taxes. Informa
tion from California indicates
that nearly $3 billion of the $7
billion property tax reduction
created by passage of the
Jarvis Amendment will go to
out-of-state property owners.
Sponsored By
RAY,
boyce
.INSURANCE,
228 N. Main St. Heppntr 676-9625 j
June 19
Morrow County School
Board, 8 p.m. Lexington office
Babe Ruth League baseball,
Morrow County vs Stanfield, 7
p.m., lone
Chamber of Commerce, .
noon, West of Willow
June 20
Summer reading program
for children begins at lone
City Library, 2-4 p.m. Story
hour starts 3 p.m.
Babe Ruth Baseball, Mor
row County vs. Inland Em
pire, 7 p.m., lone.
ri'i .