Interim commissioner Fred Messerle finally acknowledges, in a statement to The World about Curry County impending insolvency, that Coos County has some money in reserve and will last a bit longer than its neighbor, although he wrongly attributes the surplus to steep cuts made in 2008. The county’s relatively positive cash position was revealed last month on MGx and at a public meeting to the astonishment of the clueless commissioners.
According to the same article, Coos County will face a similar crisis after 2014 but the commission still chose not to be represented at a hearing of the Legislative Task Force on County Payments last week and have been ignoring state recommendations of guidance and offers of resources to avert catastrophe since 2009.
Curry and Coos counties have the second and third lowest property tax rates in the state and like most of the O&C counties have been riding off of the, “…multi-decade windfall of unsustainable timber revenues.” A paper prepared by The Larch Company, Oregon County Property Taxes, points out that most “hard hit” O&C counties levy ridiculously low property taxes and the governor’s report indicates that just raising taxes to the state average might cure 90% of the shortfall. The commissioners say they don’t want to raise taxes on the jobless and the poor but as we have tried to demonstrate most those same groups are probably already paying the maximum tax and it is large corporate landowners who aren’t pulling their weight, or to steal a phrase from Al Pettit, parasitically “living off the backs of others.”
It is unfortunate the commission, even after admitting it can’t cut the budget any further, is expending time and energy on restructuring the county while doing absolutely nothing to bring in a predictable and measurable revenue stream.
“Part of the problem is that companies don’t see any demand in the economy, thanks to high unemployment, lack of consumer confidence, and austerity at the state budget level.”
Yes, there is no money velocity right now, it there were inflation goes right along with it.
A corporation just like any business is just a business model. They are all in it to make money, that is what they do, provide a service or a product, (service) for the exchange of money. It is their business what they do with their profit.
Everyone has ideas what people should be doing with their money, when its non of anyones business, maybe the IRS.
Anyone of the businesses could fire all their employees, take their money and profits, no longer produce the services or product, and say the hell with you USof A. They can do their business some place in the world. Many, Many businesses have, and are doing just that.
The real reason the companies are not investing in the US, in employees, capital improvements, etc is because no one know which card the president will pull out of his hat next.
It is hard to plan ahead, for a result, when the government keeps changing the rules.
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2011/11/22/374271/companies-layoff-workers-share-buybacks/
What the private sector is doing.
Den, your “system” is dead, i for one do not want it back. You misunderstood. It’s the “system” doing the killing Den, no one else. The top half percent is getting richer doing nothing more than firing employees.
You’re living in a dream world now.
You hit the nail on the head.
“I agree Den, we’ve got to insist private business start paying their workers salaries and benefits as good as if not better than public employees.”
The mismanagement of the public funds has created this mess, the spoiled child now wants even more, and to continue the , it’s only fair.
you got it, now lets take the private money and pump up the private sector, so everyone makes the same fair, not based upon their production benefit, but let the private sector provide the labor and resources, until it it bleed to equality.
Oops, equal, as in Russia, China, and other communist systems. Oh, socialist systems. Anyone can go there to live and then feel equal and fair. or they can stay here in the USA, and realize life is not fair, and work to be a capitalist, in the system.
Europe now has this fair system, nice place to live.
“The growth of government where they are paid more, have better benefits, and the retirement is greater than the private sector.
The changes have to start at the local level.”
I agree Den, we’ve got to insist private business start paying their workers salaries and benefits as good as if not better than public employees. That is only fair. Some people act like the public workers’ lives should be downgraded to those of their private employed friends who are getting majorly screwed. Thanks Den.
I read the report.
These large land owners refer to must be the timber owners who pay the tax on the sale of the timber?
That deal was worked out with the Legislator years ago. Life is not fair. Change the rules, take the money, most owners won’t have it, so attachments foreclosures, etc for the government to steal the money, to spend now, because the government won’t cut spending.
Then, shortly down the road, where the can is kicked, government will still need even more money, because they won’t stop providing to the masses, in the democracy what they voted themselves.
This should not be happening in our Representative Republic form of government.
The growth of government where they are paid more, have better benefits, and the retirement is greater than the private sector.
The changes have to start at the local level.
Your point, take from them who do not pay their fair share, as seen by unfair share group.
40, Plus percent of persons do not pay any income tax, gee, no income.
The only way to make ends meet is cut spending, and only spend that which is there to spend. All the world, and the US debt is based upon spending more than they have.
It was the President who gave all the free money (Tax dollars) to the fat cats (your big land owners), now there is no money for the 40 percent who don’t pay the income tax, and the solution is, tax the rich, by definition. Not going to work.
This is a link to Sixty Minutes interview with Norquist, plus the article, quite long, pretty scary stuff.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18560_162-57327816/the-pledge-grover-norquists-hold-on-the-gop/
den, read the report- what we really want is equitable taxation across the board. You and I are paying are amount but large landowners are NOT and they are NOT reinvesting their tax savings into job creation
That is an excellent example, themguys, of the disconnect between ideology and reality-
It is called privatizing political will. The commissioners don’t have the chops to raise taxes on the large land owners pretending that the jobless and poor can’t afford it. Then they will chop the county up, like solid waste, privatize it and our rates will go up even more than if we just raised taxes.
I didn’t want our Three Musketeers to miss their sermon for the day, check out the numbers of citizens who realize we must raise taxes, but just in case they missed it, this is for Fred and Bob and Cam and Al And Jonnie Boy.
This clip from CBS encapsulates everything wrong with Grover, the Republicans, and their ridiculous obeisance to a pledge that has more meaning to Republicans than the Pledge of Allegiance or their oath to the United States Constitution.
KROFT: You make it pretty clear. If someone breaks the pledge you’re going to do everything you can to get rid of them.
NORQUIST: To educate the voters that they raised taxes. Lookit, we educate people —
KROFT: To get rid of them —
NORQUIST: To encourage them to go into another line of work like shoplifting or bank robbing where they have to do their own…stealing.
KROFT: You’ve got them by the short hairs!
NORQUIST: The voters do. Yeah.
KROFT: They’re going to have to march in lockstep with Grover Norquist.
NORQUIST: With the taxpayers of their state.
So the “short hairs” reference was cute, but Kroft really missed an opportunity here. When polls consistently show that 70 percent of American taxpayers favor tax hikes, or at the very least, expiry of the Bush rates, Kroft owed it to viewers to ask him specifically which voters in those states he would be “educating.” Norquist makes it sound like most people just loathe and despise the notion of paying more in taxes, except the polls prove that to be a lie.
“but the commission still chose not to be represented at a hearing of the Legislative Task Force on County Payments last week ”
Can someone tell me more about this? Are you serious? Have any of them addressed that decision publicly?
Let’s just call these guys out for what it is. They are koch-Heads, the plan is to chop government off at the neck, and they will do it too, because that’s what Koch-heads do, they lose all perspective. They just don’t have the courage to tell the people, thereby their silly little “advisory” panels which will give them cover when this county is reduced to a couple CEO’s building a resume for their next job.
You guys don’t want a functioning government? You want to starve it to death? Okay, but just have the huevos ‘boys’ to state so. They don’t even have the courage to show us who’s blueprint they are following. They sure wanted to convince us we are as poor as Curry Co didnt they? But OOOOPPPPPSSS some of the Cave People caught them at it.
What swine to do this to an entire county.
And then threaten to sue us for busting their chops half-way through their feast.
Well Den, when your income isn’t paying your bills, what do YOU do? Do you sell your children? Or do you bring in more income?
It’s not that hard, especially if you’ve studied the history of boom and bust in this nation. You want to dance you have to play the band, remember? That’s tea party propoganda. Of course taxes need to be raised, especially on those that can afford it.
“governor’s report indicates that just raising taxes to the state average might cure 90% of the shortfall.”
WOW “governor’s report”, is that like a government by the governor, for the governor, give us a break, a governor’s report with the solution to maintain government through increase property taxes.
WOW again, this same argument is always used, that is what they are paying over in the Valley.
I’ve never seen anything like this.
If Fred and Cam and Bob had any ethics they would resign and ask the state to appoint placeholders until the next election.