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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (May 6, 1962)
MEDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE. MEDFORD. OREGON . v..HMwi - f-..(,n.i, ..... - . jJunuAi, mfli b, 136Z n - i m. j ? vunij ivuii uy bSGIIUUCIIl 9 CIA LI j I (Whit went wrons in thm I .:... . i. . j a,, j , ......... (Whit wnt wrona in iht tlx depirtmtnt? (How could such I long ind long OTirdu list o( dillnquml person prop, rty tlxit build up? (Mtmbm oi Iht Jickion County Homi Rult commit tee iy. "If, th tyilem." (Sine vottr, of tht coun ty will choo Miy IS be twem continuing tht prt tn; form of county govern ment ind idoptlng tht pro PMed Homo Rult Chirttr. tht Mail Tribunt asked Ditmbtr, of tht homt rult committee to review t h t weakness of tht present system 11 thty ipply to tht problem of delinqutnt per sonal property taxes and to explain how such a prob lem could ba handled undtr tht charter. (That articlt follows.) Elect Homer A. CONGER FOR County Judge Your EFFICIENT, ECONOM ICAL and DECISIVE Repub lican Candidate! Pd. Pol. Adv., Homer A. Conger, Rt. I, Central Point Newspaper publication of 1 an eight-page list of delin quent personal property taxes j and the explanation that fol-; lowed was to many voters of Jackson county a startling il lustration of the difficulties under which honest and able officials are trying to handle county problems. The county has been for- ( tunate indeed in the type of men who serve it in elective : positions, and it would be j grossly unfair to blame pres ent office holders for the in efficiency of the system under which they serve. The fact that unpaid per l sonal property taxes in Jack- son county could reach a total I of almost one-half million dol lars before the matter came to public attention is in itself a staggering indictment of the system of county government j that has allowed this situation ! to develop. Must Pay More i When personal property i taxes go uncollected, those who do pay must pay more than their share to make up for the uncollected portion in order that cities, school dis tricts, and other taxing units ! may have funds with which to operate. And the longer any unse cured Mil goes unpaid, Ihe less chance there is of collect ing it as any business or credit bureau can testify. It has been estimated th. as much as $100,000 of the long unpaid personal property tax es will now be uncollectabie, due to property owncts dying or moving away, and to prop erty declining in value or be ing sold. Delay in the collection of delinquent personal property taxes is thus a matter of ma jor concern to the residents of Jackson county. What, in the present system, has allow ed this situation to develop? Responsibility Not Clear First and most important j the conflicting statements of officials involved demon-! strate clearly that in the coun ty government at present there is no clear delineation of responsibility and authority. After days of interviewing jointly responsible for getting time between tax collection ; have the time or temerity to job done, and yet no one ana taw enforcement two ; examine the files for informs- of those officials has any au thority over the others involv ed, they cannot be expected to perform efficiently and it is the public that suffers. Far more important than the question of who is to be blamed is voters do fields or diverse thai no offi- lion on the conduct of public cial could be expected to be business. competent in both. Under the charter, voters As important as the fixing would have a much clearer of responsibility in local gov- picture of the functioning of ernment is tne necessity for public officials and of how af- responsiveness and candor fairs of the county are being go off in all directions and to get out of touch with each other. After the budget com mittee had, in 1!59, authorized in the sheriff's budget a car and a deputy to be used in serving warrants, the county iho rant tw,.t i where thp nnhlip i nnnpni-nnH l handled Hills would he rtairi ! lv" not know and i Under the present system ! and reports made at two slat-' quiring into the progress of can't seem to find out who matters of interest and impor- :ed monthly meetings open to tax collection. They had no hould be held responsible, tance to the public may never the public and fully reported further report of unpaid per- tion, be accountable to the scaiiered among many offi voters for efficient and eco-1 cials independent one of an nomical a d m i n i s tration f other. county business. j And it is but one o( many Tax collection is but ifne of ; phases of county government many phases of county gov-! on which the voter has little ernment ill which procedure ! information, little say - and is ill-defined and authority is I much at stake. Authority and responsibility "e brought to public attention 1 are scattered so widely among i Until the delinquent tax list so many elected officials, each i was published, residents of the i independent of the other, that ! county and the newsmen there is no final authority, no ; who try to keep them inform- final responsibility for admin istration of county affairs. It is these weaknesses and inadequacies of the present system that gave rise to the organizational changes embod- ed were not aware that anything was amiss in the col lection of taxes. Again, this is the fault of the system, not of the officials. At present the county court ied in the Home Rule Charter. ! niccts two days a week. Un- Under the charter rcsponsi-j less .ncws,apcr' radl' and la bility for administration o f vision newsmen are notified county affairs is fixed firmly! in advancc of important ,,'7-. I. "."inH rleariv ! ih hHc fi""S'm r prujeci io oe nis-, electee. omc.a.s ana oi cnec. 3" " i cussed at the meeting, they in the handline of public af. by the press, which has long sonal property taxes until complained of the impossibil- June of l!)h'0 ity of adequately reporting 1 Under the charter the board county affairs under the pres- of commissioners could re ent system. quire regular meetings with It would be easier, too, for department heads and could private citizens to discover j inquire into (he progress of policies and procedures of the ; work in various departments, county. All major decisions, to Department heads would be have legal effect, would have appointed by and thus ac to be made in the form of ' accountable to the commis ordinnnces. which are more i sioners who would, by clec- easily researched than min utes. Procedures Unpredictable Consistency of proce dure BICYCLES & TRICYCLES REPAIRED Large Stock Tires and Parts Many Foreign Bike Parts SIMS CYCLE & HOBBY SHOP 23 North Fir SP 2-2472 A County Commissioner Must Know How To SrE Mel Lattie has had 17 years experience on boards of successful cor porations. A successful corpor ation must spend money wise ly. As a director of county af fairs this training would be in valuable to every resident of Jackson county. Vote MEL IATTIE COUNTY COMMISSIONER May 18th Pd. Ad. Lattie for Commissioner Comm. Dick Gray, Chmn., P.FD-3, Medford ing Oregon statutes, no one has yet been able to say clear ly and concisely where the responsibility lies for the un collected taxes. Nor can one find, without a lengthy and possibly fruitless search of the records of several offices, tan gible evidence of the sequence of events that resulted in pub lication of the delinquency list in lieu of service of warrants by deputy. Facts that should be readily available to any interested cit izen are virtually unattaina ble, even to a reporter trained in the art of ferreting out in formation. The fault for the present tax situation, resulting in loss of money to the county and : extra expense to the taxpay- ers, cannot be assigned to the sheriff, the county court, the district attorney, or the audi tors all of whom have had some share in responsibility for tax collection over the years that the delinquency list has built up. Individuals Not to Blame Rather, the fault must be assigned to the system, in which responsibility for col lection of taxes is not clearly defined. When several officials are seven elected commissioners. They would have the author ity, as the county court docs not, to require of the tax col lector a monthly report of his efforts to collect delinquent taxes. If taxes went uncollect ed, they would be to blame and the voters could hold them accountable. cannot afford the time involv-1 fairs is a protection for the ed to adequately report the ! public and for its officials, but proceedings of the court. the present court (or sheriff) Reports Made, Accepted j As a result, reports can be made and accepted, bills paid, (and decisions made with no : one present but the court i members and the court secre- Under the charter the func-ltary. Records of the proceed tion of tax collection would be 1 ings go into the court journal in the treasurer s office, in the hands of a man accustom ed to handling financial mat ters. Now it lies with the sheriff, who must divide his filed with the county clerk and are, as far as the public is concerned, lost to view. While the minutes are open to Ihe public, few citizens On the Air By ELEANOR WIESE Vo-Ag Activities At Crater Noted Central Point Six boys representing Crater, Phoenix and Eagle Point FFA chap ters will clerk at an open house at Albers Feed and Farm store in Medford. The chapters will divide 10 per cent of gross receipts al lowed them on all items sold that day except feed and ferti lizers. The money will be used to support various chapter projects. Tuning in the moon on our I answer questions from the TV sets seems a remote pos-1 audience of scientists, U. S. sibility but we will be able j and Soviet officials, and for to tune in Paris and London ! eign journalists. soon. This summer Telstar, a communications satellite, is TOURNAMENT OF CHAM scheduled for orbit which will PIONS, 12:30 p.m. Sunday make possible instantaneous j KMED-TV. Winners of the 29 world-wide television trans- major PGA tournaments this mission. 1 year compete at the Desert Today's program. "The Sat-1 il n -ouniry club, Las Vegas ellitc That Talks," on "Twen-I llle lasl "ur holes of play tieth Century" at 5 p.m. on KBES-TV studies the complex ities of the satellite itself and the problems of international cooperation necessary to make global television a reality. At Goonhilly Down in Corn wall, England, a transmitter is being readied for this sum mer's initial transatlantic Tel star experiments. Films show this installation and one near Folkestone, England, where TV broadcasts from the con tinent via the Eurovision Sys-jmont- are televised live WALT DISNEY PRE SENTS, 6:30 p.m. Sunday KMED - TV. Conclusion of "Treasure Island." G.E. THEATRE, 8 p.m. Sun day KBES-TV. Lee J. Cobb stars in The Unstoppable Gray Fox," an original TV play by William Saroyan. A charming gentleman rises above a barrage of difficulties including his own dismissal from the U. S. Stale Deparl- tem are unscrambled for Brit ain's sets. Newton N. Minow, chair man of Ihe Federal Commu nications Commission, is in- In other activities in the ! tervicwed by Walter Cronkite, Crater FFA chapter, two Ag riculture III shop students, Tony Shope and Lyle Hous ton, are asser- -g two new Wick baled h . loaders for Hubbard-Wray Farm Machi nery and Implement com pany. The assembling is de signed to teach students the working principles of each machine. The vocational agriculture students have been seeding grain in the school property at Jewett and the city prop erty by the ball park. Five vo-ag students. Roger Kirkham, Garry Nieder meyer, Joe Hulin, Charles Young and Mike Lounsbury, recently attended a two-day sheep shearing school con ducted by the Jackson coun ty extension service. as well as other men instru mental in the satellite pro gram. Potential international co operation in another field space research will be dis cussed by astronaut John H. Glenn jr. and cosmonaut Gherman S. Titnv on "The Nation's Future" at 5:30 p.m. Brinks bandits on KMED-TV STARLIGHT CONCERT. 8 ; p.m. Sunday KBOY-FM radio. Music of American composers ( is featured tonight: Samuel Barber's "Souvenicrs Ballet Suite," Op. 28; Virgil Thomp son's orchestral suite, "The Plow That Broke the Plains"; and Aaron Copeland's "Ro deo." DU PONT SHOW, 9 p.m. Sunday KMED-TV. Conclu sion of "The World's Greatest Robbery" shows the search and eventual capture of the cannot prescribe procedures to be followed by the next sheriff (or court). With discretionary author ity parcelled out among sev eral independently elected of ficials, procedure cannot be predicted. Whether or not to publish the delinquent per sonal property tax list in the future is a decision that must be made annually by some as-yet-undetermined combination of elected officials. From conflicting interpre tations of the statutes by offi cials interviewed. It appears that the court (or the sheriff) can decide that publication of the delinquent personal prop erty tax list will not be made ' (as has been the case hereto-1 fore), and the sheriff (or the court) can decide that person al service of warrants by dep uty is the preferable method for collection. Since the court has no au thority over other elected of ficials and no authority to pass ordinances. It is incapable of long-range planning. Under the charter, the board of commissioners could pass an ordinance establishing cither publication or personal service of warrants as the method for collecting delin quent personal property taxes. The tax collector would have no choice but to comply - and the public would know what to expect. Little Coordination possible Another drawback of the present system pointed out by the problem in tax collection is the fact that there is little communication and coordina tion between the administra tive departments of the coun ty. Except for annual reports and annual budget confer ences, (here is no regular meeting of elected officials to discuss common problems, to pool Information, and to check on progress of various pro grams. When each official is Inde pendently elected, no official has the right to call or to re quire attendance at such a meeting. As a result officials lend to ' SPEED READING It's a Good Investment! Investment in knowledge jlwjyt p.iys divldcndv. Stock market may crash, real estate values may go down, but the investment you have made in yourself can never be taken from you. Reading dynam ically will help you attain a greater knowledge in all fields. TtTTg The above class graduated recently in Eugene with gratifying results. This class in cluded students, housewives, teachers, laborers, business and professional men and women. They enjoy and use this modern reading technique-YOU CAN TOO! SPEED READING AS TAUGHT BY DYNAMIC READING INSTITUTE WILL: Increase your reading speed Teach you a fast, proven sfudy method Increase your retention Maintain your maximum comprehension Make your reading more relaxing and enjoyable. This modern approach to reading can be used on all types of literature from light novels to highly technical matter with more satisfaction and better under standing than at your present reading level. Dynamic Reading will help pro fessional and business people laced with the problem of keeping abreast with the latest developments in their tields. V) (3- Dynamic Reading Institute is having outstanding success in training people nf all levels from 12 to 80 to read more rapidly and to remember what they hae read. Leslie Balsigcr of Wilsonville will dem onstrate for you this modern method of reading. Come and sea this twelve year old boy read. Demonstration starts 7 p.m. sharp. Come early to be assured a seat. Demonstration and Registration for Spring Classes Starts 7 P.M. - THURSDAY - MAY 10 Everyone Welcome MEDFORD HOTEL Downtown Medford READING INSTITUTE Bonded to and Licanted by The Oregon State Department of Education For further Information call SP 3-1471, or write Dynamic Reading Institute, Inc., 3128 Madrona Lane, Medford, Oregon. Marine Lieutenant Colonel Glenn and Major Titov will express their views on the challenge of space explora tion in a live broadcast from Washington, D. C, where each man is a member of his country's delegation at the Third International Space Sci ence Symposium. After the speakers have ! compared their experiences 1 and traded views, they will h r3 c 01 r I l rzsi CZJ LB'J i i L : -I 1 rtovr mm PARK AND SHOP IS THE ANSWER TO CAREFREi SHOPPING DOWNTOWN! REMEMBER YOU MWAYS DO BETTER DOWNTOWN. o GREATER VARIETY . . . BETTER VALUES. USE FREE PARK AND SHOP! FREE parking with $2 mini mum purchase at any one of our Park and Shop Member Stores. O NEWS SPECIAL, 9 p.m. Tuesday KMED-TV. "Viet Nam Last Chance." An NBC news team spent two months filming and interview ing people in South Viet Nam, ; Laos and Thailand to deter 1 mine the extent and implica ! lions of the United Status in j volvement in these countries. Interviewed will be Frcder ' irk Nnlting, United Slates am bassador to South Viet Nam; Gen. Paul L. Harkins, com mander of the U. S. Military Assistance Command; Gen. Phoumi Nosavan, defense minister of the royal govern ment of Laos; the Rev. Wil liam Bolin, Redemptorist mis sionary in Northeast Thailand, and Col. Pham Ngoc Thao. province chief of Kein Hoa province in South Viet Nam. CIRCLE THEATER, fl p.m. Wednesday KBES-TV. "Anat omy of Betrayal: Dateline Cuba," a documentary com posite of the experience of Cuban newspapermen who fled the Batista regime, re turning with high hopes to Cuba only to find the Castro regime equally intolerable, DAVID BRINKLEY'S JOURNAL. fl:30 p m. Wednes day KMED-TV. Many of our best national magazines will be faced with possible finan cial failure if the proposed inr rrase in postal rates mate rializes. Brinkley interviews editors from "Harpers." "At lantic." and "Saturday Re view." YVES ToST AND ON BROADWAY. 7 30 p.m. Fri day KMED-TV. T- repeat of bctter-than-averagc musical variety show headed by the talented French entertainer Yves Montand assisted by Pol ly Bergen, John Haiti. Helen Gallagher and Bobby Van. DINAH SHORE SHOW, 8-30 pm. Friday KMED-TV. An all-Italian show with Ros no Brazzi. Domenico "Vo lare" Moduuno, the Trovajoli Jazz Group and young con ductor Joey Alfidi. EMULSION 11 FLAT WALL PAINT I II A versatile interior finish that's 1 easy to apply and dries in a jiffy. $f5 SHINGLE 4 FENCE STAIN PITTSBURGH PAINTS Brown Fence Stain Redwood Green Brown Gray $199 GAL. Paint Brushes 2" 59 4" $89 FREE Booklet Modern Decoration Idea. 1 WEST 6th STREET Medford, Oregon "Phone SP 3-8295 FREE BLUEPRINTS How To Make Patio tfurniture PLASTIC DROP CLOTHS w w To cover picnic tablet aach &
