The three commission seats in Coos County are considered non partisan positions and yet, through a series of unfortunate events and despite a democratic majority we now have three conservative republicans calling the shots and their ideology is never far below the surface. Nowhere is this more evident than in their approach to the loss of federal timber payments with a push to privatize more federal forest thereby concentrating the profits into the hands of a very few timber companies. The federal government, like every large land owner, needs to pay its fair share of the costs of operating the counties just as if it were private property but not all private property is taxed equally and Coos County does not utilize its full taxing authority in part because this commission unanimously perceives taxes as a cost rather than an investment.

This isn’t entirely the county’s fault as the Oregon property tax system doesn’t allow counties to capture benefits of economic growth by limiting the levy to assessed rather than market value, but the county could add a tax to fuel, (Multnomah and Washington counties have) do away with enterprise zones and urban renewal districts (good on Bob Main for heading in that direction) and make sure the larger landowners are paying their fair share.

Getting back to looking at taxes as an investment the solid waste department is a perfect example. Most of us probably pay in excess of $250 per year for the luxury of having our waste collected at the curbside. For only .50 per $1,000 on our property tax bill or an average of $75 a year, the Beaver Hill waste would be able to offer free dumping for non commercial customers and reduced fee to commercial haulers. Curbside service would be a choice offered by private companies and because the Beaver Hill facility burns all the trash at a high temperature leaving a fine ash rather than a slow degrading landfill the tax investment would benefit everyone. Alternatively, converting the facility to a transfer station for Waste Connections will almost certainly result in a price increase to everyone, effectively privatizing political will, because our commission are too afraid to levy a tax in an election year.

Two thirds of Americans favor raising income taxes on people earning over a $1 million and half support raising taxes for those earning $250,000. Federal, state and local elected officials who ignore these polls in favor of an ideological view that opposes raising taxes, including property taxes for those not already paying their fair share, will hopefully learn the peril of favoring special interests over their constituents at the next election.