County timber payments to stop in June
By Larry Meyer
Argus Observer
Sunday, April 6, 2008 1:29 PM PDT
ONTARIO - It’s coming down to the wire — at the end of June — as counties throughout Oregon and other western states face the loss of the payments they have used to pay for county roads, schools and public safety.
The Secure Rural School and Community Self Determination Act, originally passed by Congress in 2000, has expired after its first five-year run, and lawmakers from Oregon and other states have been working to get it renewed. So far, however, their efforts only gained one additional year, which will end June 30.
“We haven’t given up,” Tom Towslee, press spokesperson for Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, said. “It’s a matter of finding the appropriate vehicle to tie it to.”
Townslee said, so far, legislators have not found a solution yet.
“We know how important it is to counties,” he said.
Malheur County — which has very little timber — will not be hurt as much as other counties, Sen. Ted Ferrioli said recently at a meeting of the Southeast Regional Alliance Board, in Ontario.
However, “14 to 18 counties will be in dire straits,” Ferrioli said, if nothing is done.
Come July, the total loss to Oregon counties is about $460 million, he said, and in some rural counties, roads will not continue to be maintained or they will not have law enforcement presence.
Ferrioli said there has not been any movement at the state level to provide support for the counties, other than the money taken out of the Oregon Department of Transportation budget to be used for county roads. Every county is to receive $400,000. Malheur County will receive more than $600,000. Harney County will receive more than $1 million of the money, which is scheduled to be distributed this fall.
