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Bend Chamber
Weekly
February 20, 2009
By Courtney Linville, Communications Coordinator
This Week's
Highlights
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Sheriff’s employees say no
to Cost of Living Increase
On Wednesday, the Deschutes County Sheriff Employees
Association (DCSEA) announced a decision had been
made to not take a cost of living increase.
According to a press release, this decision could save
$500,000 in wages and benefits for the Sheriff’s
Office 220 employees. “The employees of DCSEA are
proud to serve the citizens of Deschutes County. We
want to show our support to our citizens by not
taking a cost of living increase and do what is
right and fair during these tough times,” said
Deputy Paul Navarro, President of DCSEA in the press
release.
This decision will not only save operating costs in the
2009/2010 budget, but it will also spill over into
the next year’s budget.
Blanton stated he is proud of both represented and non
represented employees for making this decision. ”I
am proud to work with the men and women of the
Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office, with a reputation
of honesty and integrity,” Blanton said. “We have
built strong relationships with all of the citizens
in Deschutes County.”
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Citizens rebuke
council on emergency meeting, Council answers
questions
During the visitors section Wednesday evening,
several citizens spoke out against the City Council
and its handling of the recent emergency meeting and
appointment of Oran Teater. Citizens felt the
appointment of Teater violated Oregon Meeting laws
and there was a lot of “backroom dealing.”
Before heading into the regular agenda, councilors
agreed they would answer citizens questions at the
end of the meeting.
Several members of the audience spoke to the councilors
saying they just wanted answers on what really
happened. The councilors talked about the hours
leading up to the emergency session and the final
decision.
“There was no pre-vote and no backroom meeting,” said
Councilor Mark Capell. “I felt (the meeting) was on
the up and up.” The city attorney explained to
citizens the council did not violate Oregon’s Open
Meeting Laws and if she thought there was a
violation, she wouldn’t have let the meeting proceed
Councilor Jim Clinton stated he had another point of
view of the process and didn’t want to “throw more
gasoline on the fire.” Above all, Clinton felt the
council had agreed on one process to choose a
candidate and ended up going in a completely
different direction.
Clinton says he’s not accusing anyone of violating the
Open Meeting laws, but rather the spirit of those
laws. He said he’s concerned with the public
perception that now the council can’t be trusted.
Councilor Barram echoed those sentiments saying it was
going to take a while for fellow councilors to earn
back her trust as well as the public’s trust.
Several councilors agreed Teater is qualified for
the position and he was not chosen as a compromise,
contrary to some rumors.
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City moves forward on ADA accessibility
The Bend City Council approved a plan Wednesday
evening that would authorize the city to take on
debt to pay for the accessibility improvements that
must be completed in the next few years.
Due to settlements with the U.S. Department of Justice
and Disability Rights Oregon, the city has until
2014 to bring buildings, curb ramps, sidewalks, and
bus stops into compliance with the American
Disabilities Act.
“I think it's fair to say there are a lot of views in the
community, that believe the city has not done a good job in this
whole area of accessibility,” said Councilor Jim
Clinton. “(This is) what the city should be doing
and should have done in terms of accessibility.”
Councilor Jeff Eager commended city staff for making
this a priority in these tough economic times. The
amount of debt to be issued for accessibility is
estimated to be $5 million.
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Legislators look at Beer Tax
It’s an issue that seems to continually make its way
before legislators, and it has arrived again, a beer
tax. Oregonians haven’t seen a hike in the beer tax
for 32 years, but some legislators are looking to
change that to help fund alcohol prevention programs.
According to a recent article in the Oregonian, many
legislators are saying the increased consumption of
alcohol by underage drinkers (8th graders and high
school students) is a perfect reason why the tax
should be enacted.
So what would does the tax mean? Breweries are
currently charged $2.60 per 31 gallon-barrel. The
tax would actually increase that amount to around
$50 per 31 gallon-barrel costing breweries millions.
And the cost of this tax would be passed down to
consumers, though no exact amount is yet known. Rep.
Ben Cannon (D-Portland) is expecting a 15 cent per bottle
increase which has been called a fantasy by some
critics.
The hearing on this proposal will take place on
February 23 before the House Revenue Committee.
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Bend
building fees could see an increase
According to an outside report and city staff, many
of the fees related to building and planning within
the city need to be updated or changed. If fees are
changed, officials believe this could help the
Community Development Department keep moving
forward during this tough economy.
Daniel Edds, Project Manager for the FCS Group, told
the Bend City Council Wednesday evening that when
looking at the full scope of planning, building,
engineering, and sign fees, the city is only
recovering about 75 cents per every dollar spent for
service. Looking at the cost recovery numbers, the
overall rate was over 78 percent however, the
variance in dollar figures was about $2 million.
Edds urged the council to think about what its cost
recovery rate should be and where it would like to
go from here.
Community Development Director Mel Oberst told the
councilors the study found some fees that were
too high and others that were too low. Because of the
difference in recovery of fees versus service
provided, the Community Development Department has
had to dip into reserves to keep the department
running and keep services at current levels.
According to Oberst, the reserves will run out, possibly early
next year, and then the department will have to
start cutting services unless fees are changed.
The councilors were interested in updating the fees to
help the department avoid any further cuts or
reductions in service, however they were concerned
about reactions from the building community.
Councilor Jodie Barram questioned if the fees were
raised would the building community have “sticker
shock.” Edds replied, “Developers tell me they would
rather know what the price is going to be and have
an expectation of service, rather than not knowing
what the service level will be.”
Oberst stressed to councilors the fee structures should
be changed to make it equitable and fair. Some fees
might rise, fall, or be cut altogether.
The council will also consider adding some surcharges.
This would include a surcharge on all building
permits that would help to rebuild a reserve fund
over time, a surcharge for long-range planning work,
and also a surcharge for fire prevention services on new
developments.
Councilor Mark Capell questioned if there was a way for
both the city and county departments to work
together and create more efficiencies. Oberst said
there has been some discussion, but no real work has
been done on this idea.
Finance Director Sonia Andrews says marrying some of the
departments might eliminate some of the costs, but
not all. The council asked the staff to look into
this further.
City staff will now bring back data to the council on
an immediate fee change, a gradual fee change, and
the impacts on the budget.
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Walden looks at jobs, reduction
of wildfires
On Wednesday, Rep. Greg Walden told the U.S. Forest
Service (USFS) and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
that taxpayer funds in the economic stimulus package
should be used to hire commercial contractors to
treat forest lands that are most susceptible to
catastrophic wildfire.
During a video conference, Walden talked with
representatives of each organization to find out how
they plan to spend their portion of the $250 million
economic stimulus for hazardous fuels reduction,
forest health protection, rehabilitation, and hazard
mitigation.
“I voted against the so-called stimulus because it
never occurred to me in over 21 years of running a
small business that you could borrow your way into
prosperity,” Walden stated in a press release. “But
now that the money has been borrowed, it’s my job to
make sure the Second District of Oregon gets its
fair share. We should use those funds to hire
commercial contractors to get into the forest and do
the environmentally responsible work necessary on
the most at-risk lands to reduce the catastrophic
fire we see every summer.”
Walden laid down some principals including the use of
commercial contractors to put Oregonians back to
work, prioritizing hazardous fuels reduction
projects, and undertaking forest health projects in
areas that are desperate for work in the woods.
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In the news
IRS
provides help on rebate credit: The Internal
Revenue Service is urging taxpayers and tax
preparers to avoid recovery rebate credit confusion
before they file 2008 federal tax returns. According
to an IRS press release, some individuals who did not
receive an economic stimulus payment and some of
those who did might be eligible for a recovery
rebate credit. Many returns have already been turned
in and 15 percent have shown an error revolving
around the recovery rebate credit. Problems include
claiming the credit wrong, not claiming the proper
amount of the rebate, or mistakenly entering the
stimulus payment amount on the recovery rebate line.
There are several ways to check the amount including
looking at Notice 1378 (sent to those who received
the stimulus payment), tools on the IRS Web site at www.irs.gov, or by calling the IRS at
1-866-234-2942.
Central Oregon featured
in Oregonian's 150 Best: In a recent article by
the Oregonian, Central Oregon and more specifically,
the Central Cascades were featured. The article says
“Beautiful Central Oregon is where lots of
Oregonians, especially those of us who live in the
Willamette Valley, head when they want to see some
sunshine.” The article features both Jefferson and
Deschutes County. Sights mentioned in Deschutes
County include the Badlands, Cascade Lakes, Green
Lakes, Lava River Cave, Newberry Crater, Sisters,
Smith Rock, Three Creeks Lake, and the Upper
Deschutes River.
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Upcoming Events
February 23 – The Real
Estate "Survival" Forecast Breakfast - The Real
Estate Forecast Breakfast is one of the Chamber's
most popular events. This year, several real estate
experts will look at the current market and give
attendees tools on how to stay alive in the current
market and beyond. Topics of discussion will include
the following: Statistical Update on our Residential
Market – Wendy Adkisson, The Garner Group Realtors &
Development; Statistical Update on our Commercial
Market – Bruce Kemp, Compass Commercial Real Estate
Services; Real Estate Near-term: Balancing Optimism
and Pragmatism – Bill Valentine, Valentine Ventures,
LLC; and Stay alert, stay alive in real estate today
– Steve Scott, Steve Scott Realtors. RSVP’s have
closed, but if you would like to attend the event,
it is $55 per person at the door.
March 5 – County Forecast Breakfast - Please
join us as Deschutes County Commissioner and Board
Chair Tammy Baney discusses the County's budget,
goals and objectives, successes and challenges in
the current economy, partnerships and more. The
event will take place at the Bend Golf & Country
Club from 7:30 to 9:30 a.m. The member price is
$30 per person (non-member $50 per person).
Corporate Table Sponsorships are available for $395
(includes 8 seats). Please RSVP for this event by
noon on Wednesday, March 4 at
www.bendchamber.org/county.
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