Once again The World has chosen to opine about a topic they obviously know nothing about. Today’s editorial is another misleading homage to ongoing calamity of mismanagement and rampant spending of public funds at the Port of Coos Bay. Referring to the “Eight in An Occasional Series” paid advertisement wherein Jeff Bishop suddenly cares about poverty and education and suggests a fifteen year property tax exemption for Jordan Cove LNG in exchange for an educational endowment.
Love or hate LNG, there’s no denying a terminal and pipeline would channel enormous wealth through our port. Bishop suggests capturing as much of that passing wealth as the community can.
His idea is complicated. Anyone who wants full details should read his message. Basically, however, it’s this:
Construction of a terminal here could yield significant property tax revenue. But thanks to state law, little of that money would stay with local schools. Bishop proposes offering the LNG developers a 15-year tax break as part of a local enterprise zone, in return for funding an endowment for public schools. The endowment could be a permanent community asset, potentially outlasting the terminal itself.
The idea is clever, even audacious.
There is so much wrong and flat out stupid about Bishop’s proposal I couldn’t for heartbeat imagine anyone would take it seriously. In short, Bishop suggests we deprive local taxing districts of valuable revenue and in turn have Jordan Cove LNG setup an endowment fund to replace the money schools would have received anyway, only now they get a fraction of what they would have received otherwise. Next, Jordan Cove would likely use any educational endowment as a write off thereby sticking it to taxpayers yet again.
Oregon laws allow the enactment of enterprise zones and urban renewal districts but they are strictly voluntary. E-zones and urban renewal deprive revenue to other taxing districts, schools, public safety, etc… Somebody please tell The World they cannot blame the state for this one.
Both of these programs have operated in Coos County for twenty five years with negative results. They do not work.. If all the starving districts that have bought into these scams chose to, we could do away with them tomorrow. Now that would be an audacious idea!
Please remember that the editor of the downtown Coos Bay bird cage liner that masquerades as a newspaper, the leading member of the editorial board of three people, on April 28 2010, when he disagreed with some in his community, wrote an editorial for his last employer that included his belief that his was a community that is a “village cursed by idiots”. Say what? Apparently he enjoys turning neighbor against neighbor. Many folks cancelled the paper in protest. One week later, the paper publisher, in an open letter to the readers, apologized to the subscribers for the the editor “crossing the line”. Shortly thereafter, the editor was gone and arrived here. The editorial of Thursday certainly suggests that our new neighbor belives he has entered another village cursed with idiots. Wrong!
Colandrio, for someone who thinks the LNG terminal is out of local control, the paper has sure been working hard to gain public support. Bishop must have more riding on this than just a container dock and his job…
Pirate, you’re right, we should be following the money.
The Port is a public entity.
The Port is lobbying on behalf of a private firm buying paid advertising using your tax dollars. Might be why The World’s editorial is in the Port’s favor. Follow the money.
Do you really need the Port’s paid advertising to tell you what to think?
Do you think your tax dollars might be put to a better use?
I was overwhelmed by this editorial. You have caught the intent quite clearly. What I find insidious is his final implication that citizen involvement cannot prevent Jordan Cove; especially when it is the fact that it has been committed citizens who have kept the concept from fruition and continue to do so. We will win this fight in spite of Walroth and his cronies in the Chamber of Commerce,