Paying Twice for Local Services

On this beautiful snowy day, the Mail-Tribune had a bit of history regarding the funding for Jackson County's library system (which will soon close) and the Historical Society (which just announced significant cutbacks). 

Now a few facts that may have been overlooked in all of the discussion about libraries:

- Jackson County voters have steadily supported their libraries with tax levies as federal timber receipts dwindled. Beginning in the mid-1980s, voters approved a series of operating levies, the last in 1996, a three-year levy that cost property owners 63 cents per $1,000.

- In 1997, that levy was made permanent and became part of the county's general tax base, along with other special-purpose tax levies including that of the Southern Oregon Historical Society. The shift came courtesy of Ballot Measure 47, which clarified Measure 50, the property tax limitation initiative.

The bottom line: The county is still collecting taxes that voters approved to fund libraries. And when federal payments that have kept the rest of county government going dry up, the county's response is to close the libraries.

My folks kept saying they thought they remembered neighboring Jackson County passing a permanent levy for the library...I was living in South Korea back then, where I got to endure a number snowy days like this one.  They were always busy days, as there was a runway to keep plowed and a number of roads that also demanded some attention. 

This library funding deceit is another example of why so many voters are interested in sharply limiting how the government can spend new money.  This is why we increasingly get proposals that would provide dedicated funding for existing services...which if approved enable politicians to spend the existing funding on other services.  There's just not enough honest dialogue when it comes to revenue and government spending. 

No question that the loss of county payments and O&C funding is hammering county budgets in this part of Oregon.  And, no question that a number of voters aren't very trusting when it comes to how their politicians will navigate the financial situation.  Some voters are always that way, while others have learned it through experience.

And speaking of the safety net, the following was in Roseburg's paper late last week regarding what Senators Smith and Wyden are doing.

In a letter to Rob Portman, director of the federal Office of Management and Budget, the senators said many Oregon communities are facing severe cutbacks in public services as a result of the expiration of the safety net.

While extensive discussions have taken place the past year between members of both parties in the House and Senate and officials with OMB, the U.S. Forest Service and the Department of the Interior to find offsets to pay for the extension, no funding stream has been identified, Wyden and Smith wrote. They asked Portman to give his greatest attention to what they said was an issue of “critical importance to rural communities” in the state.

“We hope that the administration recognizes the severity of the situation facing counties and school districts in Oregon and across the country, and that such concern is reflected in the administration’s budget request to Congress in the coming weeks,” wrote Wyden, a Democrat, and Smith, a Republican.

...

Last week, Reps. Peter DeFazio and Greg Walden introduced a bill into the House to extend the safety net by seven years. Wyden and Smith are expected to introduce a similar bill in the Senate later this month, although the senators have not decided whether it will call for a one-year extension or a longer period.

Jennifer Hoelzer, a Wyden aide, said her boss was still drumming up support for the extension and gauging whether a one-year extension or a longer period would have the best chance of passage.

Well, at least that explained why I couldn't find the Senate's Secure Rural Schools Act bill in this year's legislation. 

Governor Kulongoski actually sent a letter last week to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid asking them to support the reauthorization of the Secure Rural Schools Act.  It's weak letter, but better than nothing.

Comments

[Jeff]

Preferred alternative... let 'em cut trees.

[John Talley]

But if we cut trees where will the poor spotted owls live? If the stupid politicians had to live with the laws they pass, they might have second thoughts about burdening the rest of us with their good ideas. Well if they are so good, why are they exempt?? As for our local politicians, they should remember what is important and what is not, public safety, educating our kids (schools & libraries), roads and health. Anything else, parks, arts, and other "enjoyment" items are not important, let them be self supporting through user fees. I like parks and recreation, but it is more important that kids read, write, add and subtract.

Why doesn't the federal government just give all the land they own in Oregon back to the state and let the county's collect property taxes. Problem solved. This would also let their be enough land available that the average person could afford a home, not just the Californian's who think Oregon is their retirement reserve.

Anyhow, enough of my rambling.