County Council Allen and developers address concerns
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Bessie Wet/ell Newspaper Library
University o f Oregon
Eugene. OR 97403
Questions remain over proposed
speedway tax and county-issued bonds
Q uestio n s, over a
proposed speedway tax and
the county-issued bonds the
tax will be used to repay,
have arisen lately, as voters
will soon receive ballots in
the mail asking approval of
the 8 percent excise tax.
C o n cern s
have
su rfa ce d that if the
developers of the speedway
default on the project, the
county would be left to pay
for the bonds, which could
be up to $70 m illion for
construction of roads and
other infrastructure projects
proposed to be built near
Boardman.
S p e e d w a y
d e v elo p ers, the M orrow
County Court and County
Council David Allen (who is
also the county D istrict
A tto rn e y and w rote the
excise tax agreement with
the developers), have stated
em phatically that county
voters are protected and
there is no possible way the
county will be left holding
the bag if the developers go
broke.
In ballots set to be
mailed this week, voters will
be asked to approve the 8
percent excise tax that would
be used to pay back the
bonds (.5 percent of the 8
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon percent will be given to the
VOL. 125
NO. 17
14 Pages Wednesday, April 26, 2006
county for administering the
tax), but will not be asked to
approve the actual tax-free,
or conduit, bonds the county
could issue. The excise tax
would be levied on goods
and services purchased only
in the speedway area, and
co u ld not be exp an d ed
without a vote of the people.
It would also sunset, or go
out of existence after 30
years.
C o n cern , m ostly
from South Morrow County,
has arisen over the proposed
bonds. The lone School
Board would not endorse the
tax measure at its April 17
m eeting, and L exington
Mayor Valerie Doherty, who
is also running for District
A tto rn ey , voiced her
concerns at a recent council
meeting.
W orries
have
essentially been in two areas.
One is if a letter of credit
The old mini-mart across from Bank of Eastern Oregon was in the process of being
from a m ajor fin an cial
demolished on Tuesday, April 25. In its place, Wheatland Insurance will be building an
in stitu tio n , that is to be
office building, said Jim Sw anson, ow ner/partner of Wheatland Insurance.
issued to cover the bonds if
there is default, will extend
for the entire life o f the
Old makes way for new
Health District Board unanimous
in support of speedway project
The Morrow County
Health D istrict Board, at
th e ir re g u la r m eeting
M onday n ig h t, voted
unanimously in support of
the pro p o sed speedw ay
excise tax, which will go
before M orrow C ounty
voters in the upcoming mail-
in election. Ballots will go
out this Friday, April 28, and
must be received by the
M orrow C ounty C le rk 's
office by Tuesday, May 16.
M CHD '
Board
m em bers said that they
believe the speedway could
bring economic growth and
stability to the county and a
possib le in crease in the
Morrow County tax base,
which would benefit county
governments, including the
health district.
Also at the April 24
meeting, following MCHD
CEO Victor Vander Does'
annual review held in
executive session, the board
voted to give Vander Does a
raise o f nearly $11,000.
Vander Does currently earns
$86,149, w hich is to be
increased to $97,0(X) as of
April 15 of this year.
Board
m em bers
c red it V ander D oes for
rescuing the once-ailing
d istrict, which was near
closure before he took over
as CEO . The d istric t s
bottom line has improved to
the point where it has been
m aking a profit the last
several m onths. Board
m em ber L inda LaR ue
pointed out that Vander
Does took a pay cut at one
point, had not taken a cost-
of-living raise in 2003 or
2004, took only a three
percent raise in 2005 and
even bought copy paper on
his own to help the district
make ends meet in tight
times.
The agreement with
Vander Does includes five
w eeks' paid vacation and
gives him the option of
taking an additional two
m onths’ unpaid vacation,
which would bring his salary
down to the $80,000 range,
if he so chooses. Vander
D oes had the optio n o f
taking two months’ unpaid
vacation this past year, but
said he just hadn’t had time
to take it.
S pousal
health
benefits w ill also be included
in the new package.
In other business.
C h ie f F in an cial O fficer
Nicole Mahoney reported a
$47,844 gain for M arch.
“We're in the black again,"
exclaim ed Mahoney. The
district shows a $414,132
gain for the fiscal year, which
am ounts to a $46,015
av erag e
y e ar-to -d ate
monthly gain.
The district has even
more good news, however,
with Vander Does reporting
that an additional physician
will begin working for the
continued page two
ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE:
MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M.
1
icabo endorses
yes vote on
speedway tax
In a letter to the editor the
lone Community Agri-Busi
ness Organization has urged
a yes vote on the speedway
tax. See letters page two.
Heppner
descendant asks
for info
Brandi Heppner, of
Montana, a descendant of
Henry Heppner is looking
for information about him.
She is writing a book on the
family and is looking for any
information.
She can be contacted
at (406) 749-0438. If you
have any information about
Henry or other members of
the Heppner family, give her
a call.
bonds, or if it will expire and
leave county re sid en ts
vulnerable. Some critics say
the agreement between the
co u n ty and d ev elo p ers
seems to suggest the "credit
enhancement,” or letter of
credit, would terminate six
months after the revenue
from the tax is sufficient to
pay the debt service on the
bonds. The agreement states
that the developer will pay
the debt service if the tax
revenue isn't sufficient, but
some are saying there is not
a guarantee provided by a
letter of credit on an ongoing
basis.
In response to these
co n cern s, A llen and the
developers point out several
assurances that debt will
never fall to the county to
repay. Allen also said that
bond lawyers working for
the county will be looking at
any bonds issued “ very
carefully." Allen said the
intent of the tax agreement
and issuing the bonds is not
to have county residents at
risk. “Morrow County will
have the bond council
structure this so there is no
way the citizens of Morrow
County are going to end up
owing this,” Allen told the
H eppner G azette-T im es
Tuesday. Allen also said the
bond market would not be
conducive to selling bonds
without a letter of credit or
some sort of other "revenue
enhancement" in place.
Steve B rucker, of
O regon
In tern atio n al
Speedway (OIS), who has
been putting on town hall
meetings around the county
to gain support for the excise
tax vote, says voters should
be assured that bond council,
or special bonding lawyers,
will be w orking for the
county if any bonds are
issued. He said the bond
co u n cil w ill insure that
county residents are not
liable for debt o f the
developers. Brucker also
points out a section of the
co u n ty -
speedw ay
agreement which states, "In
the event that Econom ic
A ctivity Tax revenue is
insufficient to enable the
C ounty to pay the debt
service in full or in part on
the bonds issu ed ... as it
becomes due. the Developer
w ill pay the d ifferen ce
between the amount that the
county can pay and the cost
of the debt service."
“This paragraph of
the agreement makes it very
clear the 'amount that the
County can pay' is based on
the 'Economic Activity Tax
revenue,’ not some other
source of County funds,"
Brucker said in an email
addressing the concerns.
J
Iw ay
Activity
District
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BBwK
Morrow
C o u n ty
4*—
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M o rro w
-*“ * C o u n ty
Health District receives
o v e r $12,000 in grants
Morrow County Health District has recently been
awarded several grants totaling over $12,000. announced
District Administrator Victor Vander Does.
The district received $3760 from the Governor John
A. Kitzhaber Community Hospital Traffic Safety Grant
program. These funds will be used to purchase reflective
vests for all ambulance personnel, Stop/Slow signs, traffic
flashlights, rechargeable high-beam flashlights and related
equipment for all ambulances in Heppner, Lexington. lone,
Irrigon and Boardman.
A matching grant of $2606 was received from
Special Districts Association of Oregon for the purchase
of a transfer lift for Pioneer Memorial Hospital. This piece
of equipment w ill provide safety to both patients and staff
in moving patients and can also be used for patient exercise
and to safely obtain weight measures for those who cannot
stand.
A total of $6500 was received from Oregon Health
Sciences University's Office of Rural Health; $2000 for
training purposes and $4500 for evaluating and upgrading
the district's phone and data line system.
“These grants enable the Health District to improve
our services in several different areas of operation without
cost to the county's taxpayers," Vander Does said.
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