6A • November 13, 2015 • Seaside Signal • seasidesignal.com
Local option tax
wins voter approval
‘An exciting time for
students and staff,’
says superintendent
By Katherine Lacaze
Seaside Signal
On Tuesday, Nov. 3,
nearly 70 percent of voters
in Seaside School District
10 passed a ballot measure
to renew a local option tax
to help fund operations in
the district for ¿ve years,
starting 2016.
According to the third
unof¿cial results from the
Clatsop County Elections
Of¿ce, 3,061 ballots were
cast, with 2,127, or about
70 percent, supporting the
measure; 939 voters voted
no. There were 6,758 voters
eligible to participate in the
election.
“What an exciting time
for our students and staff!”
Seaside School District 10
Superintendent Dr. Doug
Dougherty said in an email
shortly after the numbers
were in. “Our community
has passed its ¿fth consec-
utive local option levy for
Seaside School District. I’m
very grateful to everyone
who supported the students
in the election.”
Steve Phillips, chairman
of the district’s board of di-
rectors, said the local option
tax renewal was important
because it “allows everyone
to move forward in a posi-
tive manner.”
“Over the next ¿ve
years, this investment in
our students will continue
to directly support the class-
es and the variety of pro-
gram offerings our students
access on a daily basis,”
Dougherty added.
The district will renew its
local option tax, which has
been in place since 2000, at
a rate of 52 cents per $1,000
of assessed property value.
Each year the tax will pro-
vide funds for the district,
from $1.22 million in 2016-
17, up to $1.4 million in
2020-21.
Overall, more than $6.5
million would be raised
through the local option tax.
This estimate is based on
current data available from
the Clatsop County asses-
sor. Seaside’s total school
budget for 2015-16 was just
over $21 million.
The funds will support
the district, which includes
Seaside High School,
Broadway Middle School,
Seaside Heights Elementary
School and Gearhart Ele-
mentary School. The district
also will include the Can-
non Beach Academy when
it opens in 2016.
According to the state’s
Department of Revenue,
most taxing districts are al-
lowed to ask their patrons
for temporary taxing author-
ity above the permanent rate
limitation. This authority
is known as a “local option
tax.” Local option taxes are
limited to ¿ve years for op-
erations and up to 10 years
for capital construction pur-
poses.
This is the ¿fth time
voters had the option to re-
new the levy. The last local
option tax vote took place
November 2010, with 55
percent of the voters ap-
proving the measure to con-
tinue to fund a reduction in
classroom sizes and provide
a wider range of programs
for Seaside students. That
vote brought an extra $1.3
million per year on average
to the district’s $15 mil-
lion general fund. It started
at $1,315,754 in 2011-12
and steadily increased to
$1,480,892 this year, 2015-
16.
The local option levy is
not related to building new
school facilities at a differ-
ent location.
Dougherty has indicat-
ed he plans to seek another
bond measure in the next
year or so to build a new
school site outside of the
tsunami zone, which puts
students at three of the dis-
trict’s four schools at risk. A
bond measure to do so was
proposed in 2013 and failed.
In the event this local
option levy did not pass,
“it would have been really
tough on everybody,” Phil-
lips said.
“We would have had to
make some major, major
cuts,” he said, adding the
extra money contributes
about 5 or 6 percent to the
district’s general fund, used
for operations. “It allows
us to move forward and
to work with the Cannon
Beach Academy people and
to continue all the positive
things the school district has
been able to do in the past.”
The district will be re-
sponsible to budget about
$250,000 for the Cannon
Beach Academy when it
begins serving kindergarten
and ¿rst-grade students for
the 2016-17 school year.
Tuesday night, Dough-
erty praised the support
from the community.
“We had outstanding
help from the Vote Yes for
Kids campaign team,” he
said. “Co-chairs Lori Lum
and Gail Dundas coordinat-
ed a campaign committee
and numerous volunteers
and businesses, who shared
the need to renew the lo-
cal option levy with our
community. The campaign
committee’s hard work and
dedication made the differ-
ence.”
“On behalf of our stu-
dents, staff, and board of
directors — thank you for
your ongoing support of our
students and their schools.”
“We had outstanding
help from the Vote Yes for
Kids campaign team,” he
said.
Dougherty
credited
co-chairwomen Lori Lum
Toyooka and Gail Dundas
for coordinating the cam-
paign committee, “and nu-
merous volunteers and busi-
nesses, who shared the need
to renew the local option
levy with our community.
The campaign committee’s
hard work and dedication
made the difference.”
Toyooka said she also
was “absolutely thrilled
about the overwhelming
support of the communi-
ty to help educate our kids
and provide great teachers.”
She was not involved in
campaigning for the local
option tax when it was up
for vote in 2010, but she
was impressed by the wide
margin of success it had this
election.
“I really do think the
community does care about
providing good education
and programs,” she said.
Time to show off your
trivia skills in tournament
On Wednesday, Nov.
18, at 6 p.m. the Seaside
Public Library will host its
monthly team trivia tour-
nament. Teams can consist
of one person or have as
many as six people. Trivia
nights are informal, fun,
competitions where teams
battle to see who has the
greatest knowledge of all
matters trivial. General
questions will be asked by
our trivia host and the win-
ners are the team which, at
the end of the night, has
correctly answered the
most questions. Prizes will
be awarded.
Seaside Public Library
is located at 1131 Broad-
way, across from the
youth center and swim-
ming pool. For more in-
formation on this event
or other library activities,
call 503-738-6742 or visit
www.seasidelibrary.org.
Future usage of former church
building is still up in the air
Church from Page 1A
Veronica Russell, chairwom-
an of the committee.
“I don’t know how much
more we can do as a commit-
tee until the city decides what
it wants to do in terms of a
budget,” she said. “Our job is
just to propose potential uses
based on our consensus.”
The city cannot incur
costs for the building until it
determines where the mon-
ey would come from. The
city purchased the building
for $220,000 in September
2014 but did not budget for
any improvements or main-
tenance of the building in
the 2015-16 ¿scal year. Pay-
ments for the building’s elec-
tricity — used occasionally
when the committee meets
— are coming out of the
city’s budget for City Hall,
City Manager Mark Win-
stanley said.
“There isn’t any budget
for this building,” he said,
adding any funding deci-
sions must come from City
Council. In order to create
a budget for the building in
this ¿scal year, Winstanley
said, council “would have to
take money away from other
things they’ve already bud-
geted for.”
The main purpose of the
acquisition last year was “to
make sure the city held the
property because of its loca-
tion,” Winstanley said. The
property is located west of
the Seaside Public Library
and across Broadway from
Broadway Middle School,
the Seaside Visitors Bureau,
the Sunset Empire Park and
Recreation District pool and
the skate park.
The committee’s next step
is to share information with
Larson and present recom-
mendations to City Council
on his behalf. Council then
can narrow down potential
uses based on what they de-
termine is appropriate and
feasible.
R.J. MARX PHOTO/SEASIDE SIGNAL
Mark Winstanley
‘There isn’t any budget
for this building.’
Mark Winstanley
city manager
After collecting input
from their respective interest
groups and other members
of the public, the committee
created a recommended ac-
tion plan, with three phases.
The ¿rst recommended
phase is to prepare the build-
ing for “limited use” and
take advantage of the two
available of¿ces. The Necan-
icum Watershed Council and
the Clatsop-Nehalem Tribal
Council have expressed in-
terest in using the of¿ces, if
or when they are available.
Members of the committee
said it is important to get
people in the building before
winter to protect the city’s in-
vestment in the property.
Either arrangement would
be a “win-win” for the city,
according to minutes Russell
prepared from an Oct. 7 com-
mittee meeting.
There would be a pres-
ence in the building to pre-
vent vandalism and break-
ins, running water to keep
pipes from freezing in winter
and use of the heater to miti-
gate mold and mildew.
After speaking with for-
mer Public Works Director
Neal Wallace and Rich Rus-
sell, of Russell Construc-
tion, the committee seeks to
address some items prior
to occupancy of the of¿ce
other events. The committee
identi¿ed potential improve-
ments such as putting in new
Àooring that is durable and
water-resistant; leveling the
steep hill on the west edge
of the property; updating the
landscaping in the front yard;
and other items to be deter-
mined.
Nothing is guaranteed at
this point and improvements
will depend on what purpose
the facility is given.
Winstanley said the coun-
cil could choose a variety of
courses after receiving the
recommendations and the
process to get the building or
property in use could take a
long time. The council also
could create a standing com-
mittee to continue strategiz-
ing for the building’s use or
remove the building to use
the property in another way.
He encouraged the com-
mittee members to be present
when they discuss their rec-
ommendations with council,
which likely will happen in
December when Larson is
available.
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Paying tribute to heroes
Heroes from Page 1A
Several hundred veter-
ans, their families and area
residents ¿lled the lobby
of the Convention Center.
The Rev. David Sweeney,
pastor of Calvary Episcopal
Church, provided the invo-
cation, followed by words
from veterans Master Ser-
geant John Gates and Ser-
geant Lou Neubecker.
At 10:55 a.m., audience
members stood and saluted
as Scout Pack 540 raised the
Àag outside the center and
Miss Clatsop County Alex-
is Mather sang the National
Anthem.
A week of
observance
Previewing the cere-
mony on Saturday night,
the Clatsop County Sons
of Beaches 4x4 Club held
a parade of Àags in honor
of Veterans Day. About a
dozen members of the club
brought their four-wheel
drive vehicles to Broadway
decked out in Àags and pa-
triotic emblems to show
their support for America’s
veterans. Several mem-
bers are former members
of America’s armed forc-
es, said local resident Jay
Pitman, who served in the
United States Navy for two
years.
“We like to pay tribute and
this was one of our ways of
paying tribute,” Pitman said.
The procession started at
the Seaside American Le-
gion Post 99, traveled down
Broadway to the Turnaround
and ¿nished at the Seaside
Elks Lodge on Avenue A.
The parade included a roll-
ing memorial Àoat, created
last year by Pitman, a mem-
ber of Seaside American Le-
gion Post 99 and the Legion
Riders. The Àoat is a tribute
to veterans, past and pres-
ent. It includes military Àags
representing all branches
the military and other patri-
otic colors and symbols. Pit-
man included the names and
photos of some local veter-
ans who died, in addition
to a photo of fallen soldier
James Trebor.
On Monday night, the
Seaside City Council issued
a proclamation paying trib-
ute to the “men and women
who have risked their lives
to preserve the liberty of
our nation, the families who
support them, and the he-
roes no longer with us.”
“Whether active duty,
reserve or National Guard,
they are our nation’s ¿n-
est citizens, and they have
shown the heights to which
Americans can rise when
asked and inspired to do so,”
wrote Mayor Don Larson.
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spaces, among them making
the building safe and secure,
cleaning mold and mildew,
testing functionality of at
least one bathroom and ob-
taining the property occupan-
cy permit. Several of those
items were completed at the
volunteer work party in Oc-
tober.
The second proposed
phase, preparing the building
for public uses with less than
75 occupants, would require
more extensive repairs and
maintenance. Some possible
projects might include repair-
ing structural issues in the
cinder-block walls around
the northwest sanctuary door-
way; replacing the furnace;
removing structures such as
the altar, the cross on top of
the building and the exterior
cyclone fencing; making at
least one bathroom handi-
cap-accessible; and painting
interior walls.
The third phase would be
to improve the property for
public uses with more than 75
occupants, such as a speak-
er’s series, plays, concerts or
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