My letter to the editor
Thanks to the taxing districts of North Bend and Coos Bay, ORC is halfway to receiving another five years of corporate welfare from the hardworking citizens of Coos County. Coos Bay Mayor, Jeff McKeown, defends his vote in favor of extending the enterprise zone tax relief for the chromite strip mining operation claiming job creation offsets tax abatement.
Where is McKeown’s math on this matter? What metric did he use to make this determination? How many jobs, precisely, make up for lost tax revenue for public safety, infrastructure and the other public services ORC will be using these next five years? What is the break even point? Ten jobs? Forty?
Please, Mayor, astound us with the details that helped you come to this conclusion so in five years we can confirm for the purposes of historical comparison, the real merits of your decision.
ORS 285B.665 states enterprise zones are meant for the “…encouragement, development, growth and expansion of employment, business, industry and commerce throughout all regions of the state, but especially in those communities at the center of or outside of major metropolitan areas for which geography may act as an economic hindrance.”
Geology brought ORC and geography is in no way a hindrance to their industry. To hear them tell it, we have the best chromite sands anywhere so our geography is actually an enticement and they should pay for the privilege of using our services just like the rest of us.
Thank you to Councilor Daily for opposing this extension.
