Safety net failure leaves budget holes
From our weekly issue dated December 19, 2007
Failure of the safety net funding bill was the primary concern during a meeting of Josephine County elected officials at the county courthouse in Grants Pass Monday morning, Dec. 17.
Attending were county commissioners Jim Raffenburg, Dwight Ellis and Dave Toler plus county counsel Steve Rich, county treasurer John Harrelsen and county assessor Mike Schneyder.
The safety net funding was attached to a spending bill that included the repeal of tax cuts given to oil companies and failed to receive the votes required for passage in the Senate. Raffenburg stated that the problems with passage came “from the Republican side of the Senate.”
It’s indicated that Democrats are continuing to look for a way to pass the safety net funding to allow for four years of decreasing payments to the affected rural counties.
Sen. Ron Wyden (R-Ore.) still is trying to find a bill to which the funding measure could be attached. Toler stated that currently “It looks very, very bad -- but we’re not giving up.”
The major concern during the meeting was that even with safety net funding, there has been no progress toward a permanent funding solution for the county.
“We are doing the citizens a disservice” was a comment made by Rich. He added that prior to each election there are candidates who claim to be able to do the job with less money. “Frankly, it’s a fraud,” said the attorney.
Schneyder, who recently attended a state meeting of county assessors, said that because Josephine County has the lowest tax rates in the state other counties say, “Your folks aren’t paying their way.”
Harrelsen said that it seems apparent that timber funds cannot be counted on as a final solution. He noted that in the early 1980s and late 1990s timber prices plummeted, and funds to the O&C counties plummeted as well.
He also said that that environmentalist concerns aside, the current timber market would result in very little in the way of funding.
Raffenburg said that the problem is, “We have a divided community. We have no common ground.”
County commissioners have yet to issue a definitive statement about how to deal with the lack of funding. O&C money has provided approximately $12 million per year for county operations.
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