Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 27, 1979)
Counties reimbursed for taxes The Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon, Thursday, December 27. 1979 FIVE The Oregon Department of Revenue Friday completed reimbursing counMes for the state's share of property taxes under the 1979 Tax Relief Plan. Union County, the last county to bill the department, received $857,827.89. A total of $104.3 million was distributed to Oregon's 36 counties. Under the Tax Relief Plan, the state pays part of the property taxes on homes. Counties show the state pay ment as a credit on home owner property tax state ments, then bill the revenue department for the state's share. The state reimburses the counties, which distribute the money to local taxing districts. Payments to counties varied from a low of $31,182 for Wheeler County to a high of $28 million for Multonomah County. Most counties re ceived their payments in November. The Oregon Department of Revenue has paid an addi tional 13 counties $24,041.68 on behalf of older Oregonians who are deferring their pro perty taxes. Morrow County received $1 .503.02 and was the lowest paid county. Clatsop was the highest paid county at $41,608. The revenue department paid 18 counties $2.3 million during November. Five , Ore gon counties do not have any residents participating in the Senior Citizen's Property Tax Deferral Program this year. Under the state's deferral program, homeowners age 62 and over can defer their property taxes. The taxes, plus six percent interest, are due when the home is sold or ea-ns more than $1,800 a year in income (such as from boarders), or the owner dies College gets grant for alcohol study An , Eastern Oregon State College project to teach farm ers how to produce alcohol fuels from farm products will receive a $10,000 grant from the Department of Energy's Office of Consumer Affairs. EOSC Regional Services Director Terry Edvalson said he has been notified by telephone that EOSC will receive one1 of 14 nationally awarded grants. "Basically it's seed money" said Edvalson, "with half going toward developing an educational program around a still we're just completing in cooperation with Grande Ronde Commodities Inc., a 1 company owned by four Union County businessmen. . The balance of the money will be used to instrument the still which wil produce six to nine gallons of alcohol an hour using geothermal energy as the primary heat source. That still will be the center of a lab for one-week work shop to give farmers practical hands-on experience in opera ting and maintaining equip ment to produce alcohol from farm products. "If alcohol fuel is going to ( work,'" said Edvalson, "the i entire farm community has to become involved at some . level." Not only can alcohol be mixed with gasoline to pro duce gasohol and to ease the push for imported oil, but its production provides a market for farm products such as grain, corn, potatoes and other commodities even in a distressed or damaged form. Social security recipients get extra $218 for fuel ; Oregon residents who get federal supplemental security income (SSI) payments will automatically receive an ex tra $218 in early January to help pay higher oil, gas or electric bills this winter. The extra check is in addition to the regular monthly SSI payment, according to Tom McPherson, social security branch manager in Pendleton. Social Security administers the SSI program . No applica tion is necessary for this special payment -by Social Security. Most SSI recipients who received SSI checks for De cember are eligible for the special energy check from Social Security. SSI recipients living in institutions where Medicaid pays the majority of the cost will not receive a special energy assistance check since it is unlikely they will have to pay for any increased energy cost. Peterson ures involement Don Peterson participant in world hunger concerns, mem ber of the hunger task force of the North Pacific District of the American Lutheran Church, and active partici pant in collective bargaining through the National Farmers Organization, reports that everyone interested in food and farm structure may write to Project Coordinator, Struc ture of Agriculture, USDA, Washington D.C. 20250. , Peterson attended the Dia logue on American Agricul ture in Spokane and testified. Three basic concerns ex pressed during the day dealt with the size and structure of farm units, where to cut the USDA budget and and the effect of parity prices on the economy. Additional assistance to help financially strapped households pay their winter heating bills is also available. Interested persons should con tact the Blue Mountain Eco nomic Development Council through its outreach workers for eligibility requirements. The total cost of the special energy assistance payments program throughout the coun try, including the special checks to SSI recipients and grants to the States to help people with special emer gency fuel or other energy related situations, is $1.6 billion. Of that, $400 million is being sent to SSI recipients. $400 million is allocated to the Community Service Admini stration, including $250 million previously allocated, for the Energy Crisis Assistance Pro gram, and $800 million is being given the states in block grants. The special energy check for each SSI recipient in Oregon will be the same. The amounts do vary from state to state, however, ranging from $34 in Hawaii to $250 in eleven states. The individual state amounts are determined by a three-part formula which takes into account local wea ther conditions, the number, of SSI recipients in the state and certain energy consumption statistics for the state. People who received a December SSI check but do not get a special energy assistance check by Jam ry 15 should contact Social Secur ity. This is especially true for SSI recipients who use direct deposit and may not have kept social security informed of their current mailing address. The special energy checks are being mailed to the homes of SSI recipients, including those -using direct deposit. The address of the Pendle ton Social Security office is 715 S.E. Court or P.O. Box 1288. The telephone number is 276-3811. extension 202. or stops using the home as his or her main residence. The taxes can be repaid sooner, however. Participation in the pro gram increased from 2.000 homeowners in 30 counties last year to more than 4.000 counties this year. The state payment to the 31 counties totaled $2.6 million. Assessors bill the revenue department for the total amount of tax being deferred in their county. Senior citizens who wish to participate , in the deferral program must file applica tions with their county asses sors between Jan. 1 and April Oregon Dept. of Transportation plans to conserve elearidty Oregon receives grant The Oregon Transportation Commission at its meeting recently approved a plan whereby the Department of Transportation proposes to save additional electrical energy over its present con servation program. Among the proposals is a plan to reduce lighting along the State Highway Svstem bv an additional 15 percent. This would result in a savings of more than 3 million killowatt hours per year. Under the presortt conservation pro gram, the Highway Division has reduced highway lighting by 30 percent, resulting in a savings of 6.3 million KWH per year. H. Scott Coulter, state hichwav engineer, said con sultations would be held with appropriate police and traffic engineers, both within and outside the department, before lights are reduced in any area to ensure public safety. Among other energy saving programs proposed are turn ing off the hot water in highway rest areas, work shops nnH park Hnv-use areas. This is expected to save bout 300.000 KWH per year. Where practical, incandescent lights would be converted to fluor escent, and janitorial services would be shifted to daylight hours where possible. All measures would be temporary during the extent of the current energy crisis. Coulter said. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has awarded Ore gon a $197,382 grant to teach children, teachers and school food service personnel about nutrition. The money is part of a $20 million grant to states made available through the Nutrition Education and Training Program (NETP) that was enacted into law two years ago. States will use the grants to develop and carry out nutri tion education and trai-'ng programs in schools, and for projects that provide informa tion on the important relation ship between nutrition, food and health. The grants provide each state with about 40 cents for each child enrolled in schools Registration for winter term starts at BMCC Registration for the winter term of classes offered by Blue Mountain Community College in Pendleton will be Wednesday, Jan. 2. starting at 8 a.m. Students will receive regis tration materials in the Ad missions Office in the col lege's Morrow Hall. They will proceed from there to meet their advisers, sign up on class rosters, enter their schedue on the computer and pay fees. Classes for day students begin Jan. 3. Evening division classes offered by the college both on and off campus begin the week of Jan. 7. Evening or part-time students may regis ter by mail by completing a registration form on page 12 of the college winter term sche dule of classes mailer. This form, along with tuition and fees payment may then be mailed to the college. and child care institutions. No slate will receive less than $75,000. Congress recently pro vided the $20 million in the Agricultural Appropriation Act for Fiscal Year 1980 (Public Law 96-7). A notice announcing how muh money each state will receive appeared in the Dec. 7. Federal Register. Oregon homeowners receive $3 million Drivers get liability insurance More than 3,500 Oregon drivers have had to get liability insurance under the state's financial responsibility law after being convicted of driving without insurance this year. In ad Jition to convictions for driving without insurance. 4.350 drivers' licenses were suspended during the first 11 months of the year when random surveys of registra tions or notions of cancellation from insurance companies showed liability insurance was not in effect. The law provides that a citation for driving without insurancemay be dismissed if the person cited goes to court within 15 days and shows proof that insurance has been ob tained. David P. Moomaw. admini strator of the Motor Vehicles Division, said Friday that even though the two figu.es combined indicate nearly 8.000 drivers have violated the mandatory insurance law in some way this year, monthly surveys of driver accident reports show that only about four percent of the drivers involved in accidents do not have insurance. Moomaw said about 15 percent of the drivers report ing accidents were uninsured before the mandatory la w took effect in Julv of 1978. Weatherization tax credits now available for mobiles More homeowners can now take advantage of the state's weatherization tax credit be cause of action by the 1979 Oregon Legislature. Owners of mobile homes, houseboats and individual units within multiple-unit residential hous ing can now claim the credit on their income tax returns if the weatherization work was done during 1979. Previously, only owners of conventional homes cold qualify for the credit. The credit wil also be easier for taxpayers to claim when they file 1979 state income tax returns next spring. Home owners will no longer need to have a building inspector or contractor certify that wea therization work meets build ing code standards. The home owner alone may sign the certificate claiming the cre dit. The credit, which reduces the amount of state income tax owed, is $125 or one-quarter of the cost of Jhe weatherization. whichever is less. The credit applies to various types of insulation, storm doors and windows, caulking and other items wheh make a home more energy efficient. t Homeowners have until Dec. 31 to install qualified items they wish to claim for credit on 1979 taxes. The weatherization work must be done by that date, even if it is paid for later. Some items which qualified for the 1979 credit will not qualify for 1980. The Oregon Department of Energy, which decides what items are eligi ble, has ruled that fireplace inserts, heat exchangers, glass fireplace screens and several other items will not qualify for 1980. Information about items that qualify for 1979 is in a free circular, "Tax Credit for Weatherization." available by writing: Publications. Oregon Department of Revenue. State Office Building. Salem. OR. 97310. A new list will be available in January on items that qualify in 1980. Registration continues for BMCC Registration is continuing in Heppner. Lexington and lone for Blue Mountain Community College classes. Three classes: Tole Paint ing, Cross-Country Skiing, and Oriental Cooking are closed with full enrollments. The Private Pilot Ground School class will meet for the first class Jan. 10 in Lexing ton. The Bridge class will begin Jan. 21 in Lexington. For further information call the south Morrow County coordinator, Nancy Brown field, at 676-5039. Checks are in the mail to 17.non Oregon homeowners for the slate's partial payment of their property taxes uner the Tax Relief Plan passed by the 1979 Legislature. A total of $3 million was distributed to homeowners in 2(1 counties. Most Oregonjans who filed claims under the new plan had the state payment shown as a credit on their fall tax statements. Homeowners whose claims were filed or processed late will receive the state payment directly from the Oregon Department of Revenue. The revenue department issued checks today for claims received from county asses sors by Dec. 13. The revenue department did not receive claims in time to process checks for homeowners in the following counties: Benton, Douglas. Jackson. Lane, Linn, Morrow. Union, Washington. Wheeler and Yamhill. Homeowners who do not receive a check by Jan. 2 should first contact their county assessor to see if the claim was approved and sent to the revenue department. Checks will be issued in January for claims received by the department after Dec. 13. Western Heritage Federal Savings & Loan Association sent out some $315,000 to home owners in northeastern Ore gon. The funds are the result of the Oregon Legislature's deci sion to reduce 1979 property taxes by 30 percent. This reduction produced an excess amount in the tax reserve fund of many home loan customers of Western Heritage. Refund checks should reach all qualified parties by Dec. 21. the association said. Pendleton Grain Growers receive profit checks Checks totalling $185,037.51 were mailed Dec. 15 to members of Pendleton Grain Growers. Inc. These checks, which are historically mailed at this season of the year, represent a portion of the profit made by PGG during 1971. "The money goes primarily to residents of eastern Oregon and Washing gon and is made possible by members doing business with their ' locally owned com pany." according to Don Cook, general manager. Cook commented this brought the total amount of cash paid back to local members during the year to a total of $222,937.61. Cook added, "These are local pro fits being returned to local economies, which is good business for the entire community." r if f If " hi II If HIV UNKWHflrAlJnLE KET HMMEr MIL FOR $1 .50 A WEEK YOU CAN BUY A 10-WORD AD ON THE HEPPNER GAZETTE-TIMES CLASSIFIED PAGES ! Take advantage of the'buying and selling' power of the classifieds. Just Ml out the blank below and bring it to our office with your remittance-) 5e a word, 10-wonf minimum. I I HEPPNER GAZETTE - TIMES I I I WANT ADS BUY, SELL, RENT. LEASE, TRADE, Deadline la Monday .... NAME ADDRESS PHDNE RUNS First Date Last date TIMES TF NO. WORDS INCHES CLASSIFICATION THE HEPPNER GAZETTE - TIMES 147 Wot Willow St. , Heppnpr, OR. 97836 J
