Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 20, 2019)
TWO - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, November 20, 2019 The Official Newspaper of the City of Heppner and the County of Morrow Amazon top county taxpayer Data centers pay over $6.4 million a year, but are exempt from another $32 million Heppner GAZETTE-TIMES U.S.P.S. 240-420 Morrow County’s Home-Owned Weekly Newspaper SEARCH OLD COPIES OF THE HEPPNER GAZETTE-TIMES ON-LINE: http://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/ Published weekly by Sykes Publishing, LLC and entered as periodical matter at the Post Office at Heppner, Oregon under the Act of March 3, 1879. Periodical postage paid at Heppner, Oregon. Office at 188 W. Willow Street. Telephone (541) 676- 9228. Fax (541) 676-9211. E-mail: editor@rapidserve.net or david@rapidserve. net. Web site: www.heppner.net. Postmaster send address changes to the Heppner Gazette-Times, P.O. Box 337, Heppner, Oregon 97836. Subscriptions: $31 in Morrow County; $25 senior rate (in Morrow County only; 65 years or older); $37 elsewhere; $31 student subscriptions. David Sykes ..............................................................................................Publisher Bobbi Gordon................................................................................................ Editor All News and Advertising Deadline is Monday at 5 p.m. For Advertising: advertising deadline is Monday at 5 p.m. Cost for a display ad is $5.25 per column inch. Cost for classified ad is 50¢ per word. Cost for Card of Thanks is $10 up to 100 words. Cost for a classified display ad is $6.05 per column inch. For Public/Legal Notices: public/legal notices deadline is Monday at 5 p.m. Dates for pub- lication must be specified. Affidavits must be required at the time of submission. Affidavits require three weeks to process after last date of publication (a sooner return date must be specified if required). For Obituaries: Obituaries are published in the Heppner GT at no charge and are edited to meet news guidelines. Families wishing to include information not included in the guidelines or who wish to have the obituary written in a certain way must purchase advertising space for the obituary. For Letters to the Editor: Letters to the Editor MUST be signed by the author. The Heppner GT will not publish unsigned letters. All letters MUST include the author’s address and phone number for use by the GT office. The GT reserves the right to edit letters. The GT is not responsible for accuracy of statements made in letters. Any letters expressing thanks will be placed in the classifieds under “Card of Thanks” at a cost of $10. By David Sykes It used to be Portland General Electric and the coal-fired generating plant in Boardman were the largest property taxpayers in Morrow County. Not anymore. Amazon’s web services company is by far now the largest payer of property taxes in the county. With a real market value of close to $2 billion dol- lars the company will pay close to $6.5 million in the current tax year, but that’s after breaks it receives for locating in the Columbia River Enterprise Zone. Drive by the Port of Morrow near Boardman along Interstate 84 and you see a large collec- tion of non-descript con- crete-walled buildings with An explosion of data center construction like this one along Interstate 84 in Boardman has made Amazon the top taxpayer in Morrow County. big electrical generators attached to the side. Ama- zon has been putting these up at a furious pace over the past six years to the point where it is now the highest valued company in Morrow County. All this new building and business didn’t arrive here without some con- cessions, however. The data farms have located in the Enterprise Zone not only for the availability of cheap hydroelectric power, Ione Community Clinic coordinator receives community star recognition Clair Arnold, Clinic Coordinator, Morrow County Health District Clair Arnold, clinic coordinator for Ione Com- munity Clinic, has been rec- ognized as a “Community Star” in conjunction with National Rural Health Day 2019. Arnold was nom- inated and her story was selected to appear in the 2019 edition of Community Stars. “Clair Arnold brings her community together with her kindness, enthusi- asm, and passion for caring for others. Clair dedicates much of her time to the health and well-being of children in Ione, OR with her summer lunch program, Youth Advisory Council leadership, collaboration with Morrow County Public Health and the Ione School District, and her help with other student peer-to-peer community health projects. In this spirit, we celebrate National Rural Health Day with educational sessions in local schools about rural health each year. We are thrilled she has been chosen as Oregon’s Community Stepping into care. Foot care is essential for people at every stage of their lives. For this reason, Pioneer Memorial Home Health & Hospice is pleased to offer a FREE foot clinic* at the following convenient locations. D O WN TOWN HEPPN E R Pioneer Memorial Home Health & Hospice 126 N Main Street Heppner, OR 97836 Free BO A RD MAN Pioneer Memorial Home Health & Hospice 101 SW Kinkade Road Boardman, OR 97818 Call to schedule your appointment FOOT CLINIC 541-676-2946 Referrals to a Podiatrist as needed • Nail Care • Foot Checks *All services are performed under direction of a Podiatrist. Where healthier is happening... Boardman | Heppner | Ione | Irrigon | Lexington 541-676-2946 Star this year,” reported Bob Houser, CEO. On the third Thursday of November every year, the National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health (NOSORH), the member organization for each of the 50 State Offices of Rural Health (SORH), leads National Rural Health Day (NRHD), an annual day of recognition, shining a light on those who serve the vital health needs of the estimated 57 million people living in rural America. SORHs, including Ore- gon Office of Rural Health, provide support to rural hospitals, clinics and first responders in several ways including technical assis- tance, funding that supports workforce development, population health manage- ment, quality improvement initiatives and more. In 2015, NOSORH in- vited its members to nomi- nate hospital and emergen- cy first responder teams, community health and volunteer service heroes on the front lines of rural health who were making a positive impact on rural lives. Soon after the stories started coming, the book of Community Stars was published on NRHD. Rural communities, health organizations and schools are all invited to participate in NRHD. Free tools, ideas and details about NRHD events oc- curring across the United States are also available on PowerofRural.org. Cutsforth appointed to county budget committee Commission wants to keep ‘regional representation’ By David Sykes Kim Cutsforth of Hep- pner has been appointed to the Morrow County budget committee replacing long- time member and Heppner resident Larry Mills, who stepped down from the volunteer position follow- ing last year’s budget work completion. There were two appli- cations for the vacant posi- tion and the commissioners opted to retain “balanced regional representation” on the committee by ap- pointing Cutsforth over a Boardman resident. “I wish there were two spots,” Commissioner Jim Doherty said about the qualifications of the candidates. He said the last time a vacancy came up on the budget committee he voted for a north end candidate over a Heppner applicant to keep all areas of the county rep- resented. He said to remain consistent he would vote for the Heppner candidate, Cutsforth. Commissioner Don Russell also voted for Cuts- forth siting similar reasons. “I was a big advocate (on the last budget committee appointment) for regional representation and having different viewpoints on how county money should be spent,” he said. “Both are qualified but there always seems to be limited resourc- es with unlimited wants,” he added. “What’s important for people to spend money on is different in Heppner Kim Cutsforth takes Larry Mills’ place. than in Boardman,” he said in supporting the Heppner applicant. Commissioner Melissa Lindsay joined the two others in voting unanimously in favor of Cutsforth. In her application letter for the position Cutsforth pointed to her experience saying, “I have municipal budget experience. I have prepared the Willow Creek Park District Budget for over twenty years. I was the past Heppner City Manager and prepared the budget there for six years. I served as acting interim Morrow County Administrator in 2017. This time with the county allowed me to work with the department heads and to have a reasonable understanding of the work- ings of the county and the needs of the departments. I recognize the commitment required for this position and I am willing to dedicate my time to this very import- ant task. I hope that yourself but also for the tax breaks they receive. According to figures from the county assessor’s office Amazon Data Services is exempt from paying over $32 mil- lion in yearly county prop- erty taxes. Its real market value before exemptions is set at $2.8 billion of which close to $2.3 billion is ex- empt from taxation. The data farms end up having an assessed value, or the value their property taxes are actually based upon, of $458 million. Enterprise zone offi- cials say the data farms have been a positive for the county and that without the tax breaks Amazon would not even have located in here and be paying any taxes. There would also be none of the good paying jobs the data farms provide, they point out. Rounding out the rest of the top five property tax- payers in the county: 2. Portland General Electric, which operates a gas-fired electrical generat- ing facility and pays about $3.9 million in taxes. It operates under a different tax-exempt program called the Strategic Investment Program or SIP and is ex- empt from paying property taxes of about $7.7 million. 3. Avista Corporation, an energy company which has no tax breaks and pays about $3.4 million per year. 4. Threemile Canyon Farms, an agricultural busi- ness near Boardman pays about $2.7 million and does not receive any tax reduc- tions. 5. Lamb Weston, Inc., the large food processing plant at the Port of Morrow and the county’s biggest employer, pays $2 million per year in taxes, is located in the Enterprise Zone and has $3 million in exempt property taxes. and the commissioners will consider me for this com- mittee.” In another appointment, the commission named Ma- rie Cain of Boardman to the county Compensation Board. She replaces Lis- anne Currin who stepped down. The compensation committee meets and de- termines recommendations to make to the commission on salaries and wages for county employees. Cain is a controller at Threemile Farms for Dairy Opera- tions. “I would like to have an impact within the county and share my expertise as I can,” she wrote to the commission. “Attracting people and keeping them representing the county can be difficult and compensa- tion plays a role in that,” she added. In other appointments the commission had earlier appointed the following people to the fair board: Dawn Eynetich of Ione, Ashley Strzelewicz of Ione, Sarah Smith of Heppner and Shelby Krebs of Irri- gon.
