SIX - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, January 5, 2022
CREZ to disburse $191 million over next 16 years
Most will come from Amazon data centers
Es�mated CREZ II Revenue 2022-2037
Year
Amazon 1
Amazon 2
Amazon 3 (Est.)
Amazon 4 (Est.)
Amazon 5 (Est.)
Col. Riv. Tech.
Lamb Weston
WOF PNW
Totals
2022
$804,810
$791,870
$4,450,000
$4,580,000
$0
$875,000
$950,000
$30,000
$12,481,680
2023
$296,620
$407,430
$4,465,000
$4,600,000
$2,350,000
$1,000,000
$950,000
$30,000
$14,099,050
2024
$0
$0
$4,475,000
$4,620,000
$2,360,000
$875,000
$950,000
$30,000
$13,310,000
2025
$0
$0
$4,485,000
$4,630,000
$4,380,000
$1,000,000
$950,000
$7,500
$15,452,500
2026
$0
$0
$4,500,000
$4,645,000
$4,395,000
$0
$950,000
$0
$14,490,000
2027
$0
$0
$4,510,000
$4,655,000
$4,405,000
$0
$950,000
$0
$14,520,000
2028
$0
$0
$4,520,000
$4,670,000
$4,420,000
$0
$950,000
$0
$14,560,000
2029
$0
$0
$4,530,000
$4,680,000
$4,435,000
$0
$0
$0
$13,645,000
2030
$0
$0
$4,550,000
$4,695,000
$4,445,000
$0
$0
$0
$13,690,000
2031
$0
$0
$4,560,000
$4,705,000
$4,546,000
$0
$0
$0
$13,811,000
2032
$0
$0
$4,575,000
$4,720,000
$4,570,000
$0
$0
$0
$13,865,000
2033
$0
$0
$4,590,000
$4,730,000
$4,585,000
$0
$0
$0
$13,905,000
2034
$0
$0
$0
$4,750,000
$4,590,000
$0
$0
$0
$9,340,000
2035
$0
$0
$0
$0
$4,600,000
$0
$0
$0
$4,600,000
2036
$0
$0
$0
$0
$4,610,000
$0
$0
$0
$4,610,000
2037
$0
$0
$0
$0
$4,620,000
$0
$0
$0
$4,620,000
$190,999,230
Above is a table recently released by County Assessor Mike Gorman showing where the $191 million comes from until 2037 when the tax deals expire.
By David Sykes
Although no longer
making new business tax
deals, the Columbia River
Enterprise Zone II (CREZ
II) will still be disbursing
a large amount of money
across Morrow County over
the coming years. Accord-
ing to recent estimates from
the county assessor, over
the next 16 years CREZ will
distribute almost $191 mil-
lion across Morrow County.
All the money will come
from tax abatement deals
already in place with busi-
nesses located in the enter-
prise zone, with the major
tax payer being the Amazon
data centers at Boardman
and the Port of Morrow in
north county.
Although the CREZ’s
state charter has expired
there will still be people
in place until 2037 making
decisions on how the mil-
lions arriving each year will
be spent. Allocating these
funds will be representa-
tives appointed annually to
the CREZ II board from the
Port of Morrow, Morrow
County and the City of
Boardman. These represen-
tatives can be a mixture of
By Doris Brosnan
If two neighborhood
cats could, they would sure-
ly thank Sam Van Laer for
her kindness, especially
now, in the freezing, snowy
weather. The two belong to
no one, actually, but both
have been neutered, and
both have been fed in a
particular back yard for a
few years. Van Laers moved
into that home recently, and
Sam took over the feeding
of the two vagabonds but
has taken the operation to
a new level that includes
bedding enclosed in a large
shed warmed with heat
lamps. Lucky cats.
Jim Doherty, Don Rus-
County
sell, County
Commissioner Commissioner
and CREZII
Chairman
Paul Keefer,
Boardman
Karen
Mayor
Pettigrew,
Boardman
City Manager
elected representative and pand in the Enterprise Zone
paid staff.
(EZ). These agreements
Pictured above are allow the businesses to
the government officials, pay reduced property taxes
elected and staff, who instead of the full appraised
will make the decisions amount, under the theory
this year on how to dis- they will provide good pay-
jobs in Morrow County.
burse the CREZ mon- ing
There are currently 74 en-
ey. Although they will terprise zones authorized
change over the next 16 by the State of Oregon,
years there will always be so officials from Morrow
two representatives each County’s main economic
from Morrow County, the development engine, the
City of Boardman and the Port of Morrow, say they
Port of Morrow deciding would be at a severe disad-
how to spend the millions vantage without having the
EZ in its business recruit-
in CREZ money.
The CREZ II was es- ment “toolbox.”
The CREZ does not
tablished 10 years ago, and
operate
under regular tax-
since then has made tax
ing
district
rules, however.
abatement agreements with
Under
CREZ
procedures
businesses locating or ex-
Ryan Neal,
Executive
Director, Port
of Morrow
Rick Stokoe,
Port of
Morrow
Commissioner
the money collected from
EZ businesses “in lieu”
of property taxes goes
directly into the CREZ
bank account. The money
can be spent with very
few outside guidelines.
On the other hand, “nor-
mal” property taxes col-
lected annually from all
other property owners goes
through county government
for disbursement to the
various 44 taxing districts
scattered throughout in the
county. For example, these
districts can be fire districts,
cemetery districts, schools,
cities and even county gov-
ernment itself. Under state
taxing and budgeting laws
each of these districts are
required to publish and
hold public hearings on
their annual budgets. This
is not a requirement of any
enterprise zone in the state,
including the CREZ II.
However, the local
CREZ does have internal
policies, established by
its original members on
how it wants to spend its
money around the county.
These guidelines, which
have been for the most
part adhered to, include
funding of the four broad
categories of education,
public safety, housing and
community enhancement.
The board recently added
infrastructure to that group
of funding. The CREZ also
has used the three county
economic development
groups to funnel much of
the funds for disbursement
to the local communities.
But at its December
meeting, when delibera-
tions began on dividing this
year’s funds, the board was
greeted with nine separate
groups asking for special
funding. The main decision
facing the board appears to
be should it continue with
past funding strategies or
begin taking individual
“asks” from groups and
organizations around the
county. At the December
meeting the board deferred
any spending decisions un-
til a yet unannounced Jan-
uary meeting date. CREZ
II chairman Don Russell
indicated at that time he
would like to continue with
the past funding methods,
however there were no de-
cisions made.
Also recently released
by the county assessor was
an accounting history of the
approximately $26.5 mil-
lion in lieu of taxes collect-
ed and spent by the CREZ
since 2012. From this total
amount it has spent $12.4
million on housing and
community development,
$3.3 million on education,
$3.4 million on public
safety, $800,000 divided
equally amongst the four
communities of Heppner,
Lexington, Ione and Irrigon
for infrastructure, and $5.5
million divided equally
among the three CREZ
member entities the Port of
Morrow, City of Boardman
and Morrow County.
Art. One day was spent
driving to the south Jersey
shore. We also toured the
Ivy League campus of the
University of Pennsylvania,
established in 1740. Roy
moved to Philadelphia in
August to begin his mas-
ter’s degree in Hospital
Psychology at the Univer-
sity of the Sciences, estab-
lished in 1822, for which he
has received a scholarship,
and plans to return soon to a
professor’s-assistant job he
worked at earlier there. Roy
attended school at Heppner
from kindergarten to gradu-
ation in 2006. Our flights to
Philly via Pasco and Denver
were interesting, with a me-
chanical delay, almost miss-
ing a connection, a cancel-
lation, crowded terminals
and long lines, rebooking, a
long layover, a gate change,
misplaced luggage and an
aborted landing during a
snowstorm, but it was all
just part of the adventure.”
Only after the fact did
Tony Lankford and Emma
Osmin announce on Face-
book that they had eloped
on November 21, to Stony
Ridge in the mountains. A
cousin, Jeremy Worden,
performed the ceremony
that the Lankfords later
announced to his dad, Steve
Lankford, mother, Susan
Clemens, and her parents,
Jess Osmin and Amy McIn-
tosh. The newlyweds plan
to eventually move into a
home near Tony’s grand-
parents, Mike and Marlene
Gray.
On Wednesday, De-
cember 29, family and
friends gathered at the home
of daughter and son-in-law
Kristi and Mark Smalley
in Hermiston to celebrate
John and Pat Edmundson’s
65 th wedding anniversary.
Despite adverse weather,
nearly thirty people gath-
ered for food, drinks and
toasts. A great time was
enjoyed by all.
Many thanks to contrib-
utors to this week’s column.
Feels good to smile. And
continued encouragement
to everyone who has a pos-
itive tidbit to share with our
readers. Contributions can
come this way before Mon-
day afternoon by writing to
dbrosnan123@gmail.com
or calling 541-676-5382 or
541-223-1490.
Here’s hoping that
some good news comes to
everyone reading this.
Good News Only
Whew. What a storm.
Tiny silver lining - time to
finish a book while staying
warm under the covers with
a flashlight, waiting for the
seven-hour outage to pass.
To the young, robust
Columbia Basin heroes
and their neighboring fel-
low linemen, a big thank
you for your imperative,
greatly-challenged efforts
early-morning Monday.
Doing double duty as
work and play, the shov-
eling of snow from the
sidewalks of Main and
some side streets offers eas-
ier walking for pedestrians
and some snow fun for the
operators of the ATV-snow-
plows. Thanks go out to the
thoughtful men who make
such a difference.
Other people, too, have
been caught performing
“Neighborhood Acts of
Kindness” reported to the
Good News column: When
Bob Hager shovels snow
from his sidewalks, he con-
tinues down Cyde Estes’s
sidewalk. (And while he’s
at it, Bob is apt to also get
her garbage can out for
pickup.) Another gentleman
who doesn’t stop at the end
of his walks, Clyde Per-
kins jogs across the street
to shovel snow from Jo-
Anne Burleson’s and Adam
Doherty’s sidewalks. (Until
the snow, JoAnne toted
Chad’s garbage can to the
curb when she did the same
with hers.)
The road conditions
threw some travel plans
awry last week, but for Al-
yse Wentz, that wasn’t nec-
essarily a bad thing. While
also attending Linn Benton
College, Alyse works at a
Safeway in Corvallis and
had to work until December
23, when she came to Hep-
pner to visit her family and
friends, expecting to return
to Corvallis on Monday
because she was scheduled
to work on Tuesday. Plans
changed when road condi-
tions meant chains required
in the gorge, so Alyse re-
ported to her supervisor
the need for a delay, and
she ended up enjoying her
visit for two days more than
planned. She then headed
out with some new tire
chains, detailed instructions
on how to put them on, and
her boyfriend, Carson Bros-
nan, riding shotgun.
David and April Sykes
of Heppner had visitors
over Christmas weekend.
Son Christopher and wife
Rachel, son Waylon and
daughter Sophie came from
Pendleton. Also, there was
son, Andrew from Pend-
leton and daughter Ca-
mille, with Eddie Gonzales
and their son Oscar, from
Milwaukie. The families
opened presents togeth-
er on Christmas morning
and later enjoyed a lamb
Christmas dinner prepared
by April. Camille and Eddie
stayed at the Gilliam Bisbee
Airbnb one night and at Far-
ra’s Guesthouse the second
night and had good reports
on both of them.
Such good news Kay
Proctor shares this week,
“Mike and I got to spend
five days in Philadelphia
with our son, Roy, to cele-
brate Christmas and Roy’s,
34 th birthday (December
25th). We visited St Peter
and St Paul’s Basilica on
Christmas Day, stayed in
a hotel near Rittenhouse
Square, three blocks from
the historic 1901 City Hall
and near JFK Boulevard
and Benjamin Franklin
Way; visited Independence
Hall and the statue of Rocky
Balboa by the Museum of
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