Sizemore Reframes Tax Issue to Support Increase
Chuck Sheketoff
From the Associated Press (3/5/2008, 12:54 a.m. PT):
Oregon tax activist raises prospect of local tax increase
KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. (AP) — Bill Sizemore, one of Oregon's top anti-tax activists, is talking about raising local taxes to avoid cuts in public safety agencies.
Sizemore is a member of a task force of residents the county named to recommend how to cut $2.3 million from the county's $17 million general fund budget.
As in other Southern Oregon counties, officials are struggling to make up for money the federal government used to send to timber counties.
Task force members said this week they would rather replace the loss of federal timber payments with new funds than cut the budgets of strained public safety departments.
"This isn't asking for more, just trying to make up for a loss," Sizemore said.
The district attorney, sheriff and juvenile department officials told the committee Monday how budget cuts would affect their departments.
District Attorney Ed Caleb said, for instance, he could trim $375,651 from his proposed $1.48 million budget by cutting a three of his deputy district attorneys, three staff positions and one of his investigators. Such cuts would likely reduce the number of cases his department could prosecute and decrease participation in crime prevention programs.
Sheriff Tim Evinger said any cuts would come from staff, either reducing his number of patrol deputies or corrections staff, resulting in strained patrol schedules or the closing 44 of 152 jail beds.
Their comments led Sizemore and fellow task force member Cheryl Hukill to talk about the public safety levy to offset lost timber funds.
Sizemore said he is against raising new taxes, but said he could support the levy because it would stabilize, not increase, the public safety budget.
Caleb and Evinger said putting a public safety levy before voters would require an extensive grassroots campaign with widespread educational outreach, and Caleb said he wasn't confident it would pass.
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Information from: Herald and News, http://www.heraldandnews.com
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Mar 5, '08
Wow, so when BS has to deal with the consequences he acts responsibly? That's great.
Maybe we've had it all wrong and he should be in the legislature to see all the people he's screwed. Or I guess would have screwed had his measures actually won.
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