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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 25, 1995)
« Page 2 ». * « * The INDEPENDENT, January 25,1995 IHDEPENDEHT The V/oW Ho/Ver! Serving the upper Nehalem River valley. Published twice monthly on the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month, by Public Opinion Laboratory Ltd., 1206 S ta te A ve nu e, V ernonia, OR 97064, as a fre e new spaper. E ditors and P ublishers, Dirk & Noni Andersen, (503) 429-9410. __ IV A R ... :.... all of ,<0ZAAtaT<a a / rHAT Aivsr 3e sone that g o i > j 6 oa ) fioT THC S u M &otJD HAve o/U p e A « ,r s r « e C o u r t <RA*>vei_,iV<rH rwe t r ia l 4 • ■ ’S .'.'.'. •»tí • 0 ...................... ** J I oow d f t « ..ÿWW A Letter to the Editor from an organization called Taxpayers United of Columbia County (see Letters, “Taxpayers group questions budget” page 11) asks many questions about the county budget, but makes no effort to supply the answers and, instead, deni grates the budget-makers by innuendo. An organization such as this could be helpful—-but only if they do their homework. In an effort to urge the organization to work toward constructive criticism of the budgetary process, here is some basic informa tion they should have obtained before making public comment. In this county, the commissioners, sheriff, asses sor, treasurer and county clerk all receive the same salary. Neither of the two eligible commissioners (Hugo and Sykes), nor the county clerk, accepted the 6% PERS pickup, they pay their own. The sheriff, as sessor and treasurer accepted it. Most of the Corrections Department revenue is “pass-through” money; money that comes from the state and is earmarked for specific purposes. The commissioners have very little control over that mon ey and very little of the department’s revenue is from property taxes. There are over 600 miles of county roads and no property taxes are used to maintain them. Road Dep’t. funds derive from gasoline taxes, surface min ing (sand and gravel) depletion fees and forest trust lands reimbursement. The Steel Mill road is an eco nomic development grant (lottery money) that will be available only if a proposed steel mill comes to the county. If not, the money stays with the state for other economic developments of their choice. There are also other grants and grant requests on the budget that may never materialize. Circuit Court and District Court costs are paid di rectly by the state, the money doesn’t go through the county so the costs don’t show on the county budget. DD (Developmentally Disabled) residential facilities and Mental Health funds are also pass through monies. State law requires, but does not pay for, a di rector of emergency services. Some of the money for department operations comes from the state Dep’t of Energy and some from PGE. Fringe benefits will vary for individuals, depending on family size, because family members are included in the employees’ insurance coverage. The current union contracts require employees to pay part of their own medical insurance coverage, reducing taxpayers’ costs by $250,000 in the current fiscal year. Much of this information may be obtained by look ing at the Resources (income) part of the budget. The remainder (and much more) is readily available by asking the commissioners or department heads. If members of Taxpayers United are serious about watchdogging the county budget, they should attend budget meetings. Budget meetings are open to the public and questions are allowed. The next county budget meeting will be April 4, 1995, Room 308 in the courthouse. Call the commissioners’ office (503-397- 4322) for the time. » ì 1, OH, If» Answers to budget ?? readily available , «.* •• * - « « « « < *" - . , • ríLLM/o aa / o i goody just lvv THAT T«x /*!£ W M \\>|Ljt/D G f WtfWWf " ' Collii OA/» m i e H iftte p o ir t By Rep. TimJosi Oregon House District 2 The first week of the 1995 Oregon legisla tive session has been very eventful. The opening day was marked by the swearing in of Gov. John Kitzhaber and a call for bi-partisan co-operation in resolving the issues facing the state during this biennium. Some legislation being introduced will look familiar, as it relates to many of the same sub jects discussed in the last session. These in clude relaxing environmental regulations, re ducing the scope of LCDC, strengthening pri vate property rights in relation to public inter ests, determining the future administration of the Education Reform Act, and further devel oping the Women’s Health and Wellness Act. Of interest to our communities will be the re -e v a lu a tio n o f fa c to rs th a t d e te rm in e w h e th e r la nd sh o u ld be d e s ig n a te d as farm/forest or allowed for development. Con tinued work to restore coastal fisheries, and proposed legislation by the Oregon Ash and W ildlife Department to require recreational clam digging licenses are also being consid ered. Residents of communities adjacent to the Tillam ook forest should be especially con cerned about Senate Bill 104 and Senate Joint Resolution 2, which affect county receipt of funds from the Tillamook State Forest. In troduced by the Superintendent of Education, Norma Paulus, these bills would have disas- trous consequences for virtually every com munity within my legislative district. If these bills are passed by the legislature, SJR 2 would be placed on the ballot for the next gen eral election. If passed, it would amend the Oregon constitution and allow the state to take timber revenues earmarked for our schools and local taxing districts and place it into the Common School Fund. SB 104 is the en abling, statutory language and would take ef fect only if SJR 2 were approved by the vot ers. The counties acquired ownership of these lands after the Tillamook burn and deeded them to the state, without compensation, with the understanding that when the forest had re covered and was ready for harvesting, the state would share those revenues with the corresponding counties. These bills would breach the state's contract with the counties that entered into the trust agreement with the State. I consider this to be a very underhand ed and devious plan to help the state gain rev enues to which it is not entitled. I will fight this attempt in every possible way and I suggest that we all need to join together with a united voice to defeat this legislative effort. Send me your letters and I will see to it that your voice is heard here in Salem. In future reports, I will keep everyone informed as to what is happen ing and how you can help. Rep. Josi may be reached at: State Capitol Room H491 Salem, OR 97310 Phone: (503)986-1402 FAX: (503)986-1575 Sykes will be missed on Board The resignation of Michael Sykes from the Columbia County Board of Commissioners is a blow to residents in the Vernonia area. Over the years, as voters in this area finally overcame the feeling of estrangement from county govern ment, it was obvious that Sykes had a great deal to do with that change of at titude. The reason was apparent: He didn’t simply pretendió have our inter ests at heart, he really was concerned. r . I * ♦ à There is no doubt that Sykes is an excellent choice for an economic de velopment specialist at the Port of St. Helens. He is knowledgeable, intelli gent and reliable, but equally impor tant is his overwhelming desire to bring good fam ily wage jobs to Columbia County. He has served county government wel, and we regret his going, never theless we wish him well.
