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:
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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
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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.