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1299 University Of Oregon
Eugene OR 97400-1299
Vol. 18, No. 21
“ Voice of the Upper Nehalem River Valley
ŒD STANDARD
ostage Paid
a. O R 97064
FREE
November 6, 2003
Local property taxes
show small increase
Downtown, water ordinance and parade
Vernonia City Council, during
their Oct. 20 and Nov. 3 meetings,
set dates for several public hear
ings and workshops. They also
reviewed the city’s water ordi
nance and approved incorporat
ing “Smart Development’ princi
pals into the City’s development
ordinance.
A workshop on economic de
velopment will be held Nov. 17 in
the form of a town hall meeting
(details on page 3). Another work
shop is scheduled for Dec. 1 to re
view proposed changes in the
City’s water ordinance. Among
other modifications, the changes
would require liability by the own
ers of rental properties for pay
ment of water and sewer utilities.
Also scheduled Dec. 1 is a
6:30 p.m. public hearing on a re
quest by Jim Brunsman to vacate
a portion of G Street.
Another public hearing, Janu
ary 19, 2004, will be to get public
input on a proposed downtown
zone. The time will be announced
later.
Council approved a request by
Robert Baker for a Christmas
Lights parade of trucks on De
cember 6 and directed staff to as
sist him with necessary permits.
The parade is tentatively sched
uled to start at McLean Road
Builders, on N. Mist Drive,
through town on Bridge Street
and end at the vacant lot between
Weed and Rose Avenues.
The lighted trucks will include
log, lumber, chip and dum p
trucks, Baker explained.
Council has agreed to remove
the old city hall and construct a
new building at the site for use as
a learning center. A grant has
been obtained for the job, and city
staff will meet with U.S. Bank to
discuss how to handle the com
mon wall separating the two
spaces.
City agreed to a hardship ex
emption for the Vernonia Grange
that excuses a portion of water
and sewer fees. The agreement
covers a six-month period,
retroactive from July, 2003, until
January, 2004. The Grange is
working on fundraisers.
A lth o u g h m any C olum bia
C ounty property tax bills are
low er this year, due to low er
levies for bonded debt and ur
ban renewal in som e areas, the
typical tax bill increased 3.24
percent inside the City of Ver
nonia and 3.39 percent in the
rural areas of Vernonia. These
increases resulted from higher
bonded debt levies for both
P ortland C om m unity C ollege
and the Vernonia Rural Fire
District. M ist-Birkenfeld Rural
Fire D istrict property ow ners
also saw an increase, of 2.94
percent.
Under the property tax sys
tem im plem ented by M easure
50, passed by O regon voters in
1997, ta xin g d is tric ts have
frozen tax rates for operating
purposes. At the sam e time as
sessed va lu e s of individ ual
properties are limited to a m ax
imum three percent increase
each year unless the property
is im proved, subdivided, re
zoned o r disqualified from spe
cial assessm ent or exem ption
These are considered “excep
tions” to the three percent in
crease in assessed value.
The result of these tw o pro
visions of Measure 50 is that
Non-Voters defeat
9-1-1 levy renewal
S eventy percent of the v o t
ers who cast balllots in the N o
vem ber 4 election approved
renew al of an operating levy for
C olum bia C ou nty’s 9-1-1 dis
patching district. O nly 30 per
cent voted against the renewal.
Nevertheless, the levy re
newal w as defeated because
only 34 percent of the regis
tered voters in the county filled
out a ballot. Though the levy
w as overw helm ingly approved
by those w ho voted, the double
m ajority election required at
least 50 percent, plus one, of
registered voters to vote.
most property ow ners can ex
pect a predictable three per
cent increase in their property
tax bill each year. W ith one sig
nificant exception.
“W hether a property ow n e r’s
tax bill goes up more than three
percent or less than three per
cent is alm ost exclusively the
result of changes in local option
and bonded debt levy rates,
w hich are not lim ited by M ea
sure 50," C olum bia County A s
s e s s o r Tom
L in hares e x
plained.
Tax bills for typical residen
tial and com m ercial properties
inside the C ity of Scappoose,
declined by 2.20 percent due to
the S cappoose Library D istrict
paying off the library building,
com bined with a reduction in
the C ity’s bonded debt. In the
City of Rainier, property taxes
declined by more than five per
cent in response to the City
paying off bonds for upgrading
the c ity ’s w ater system and the
R a in ie r E cono m ic D e v e lo p
m ent C ou ncil’s reduction in the
urban renewal special levy.
E lsew here in the county, ru
ral S cappoose properties saw a
2.14 percent increase.
St. Helens residential prop
erty ow ners saw a 3.69 percent
increase in their tax bill inside
the city and 3.78 percent in
crease outside the city due to
slightly higher bonded debt for
the St. Helens School D istrict
and a new, higher perm anent
tax rate for the C olum bia River
Fire & Rescue District.
C olum bia City ow ners are
also paying a little m ore for fire
protection, but a decrease in
the C ity ’s bonded debt offset
that am oun t so tax bills in
creased by only 2.69 percent.
P ro p e rty ta x b ills in the
C latskanie area w ere 3.14 pe r
cent higher inside the C ity and
3.23 percent higher in the rural
areas because of an increase
Please see page 5