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<br />o~cr rheir Icvies, chey will be more likcly
<br />co capwrc rising revcnucs from aew dc-
<br />~•clopmenc witho~c bcing asked c~ rcdua
<br />raa ca~es. ~ilso, wich chc Stowth in cax
<br />burdens on c.ais~ing homcowners now
<br />limiced, che croncern over prop~ny, ~axes
<br />in the scace may wane. One othcr Faccor
<br />char benefi~ed many local governmencs
<br />~~~as ihe facc that, in seaing thc ncw per-
<br />mancnr race, existing serial Icvics (addi-
<br />donal ~ax IeYies added ca che rolls for a
<br />limi~cd peric~d of time) werc madc a per-
<br />manen~ pan of che new levy ~~. Some
<br />~ot•ernmencs, shcrefore, ended up wirh a
<br />~~•indfall of adJitional permanenr rc,we-
<br />nucs and we~c spared che necd cc~ scck
<br />~•occr approval e.~ery few years for a sc-
<br />rial Irv~ rhac had become parc of chc op-
<br />orating revenues of chc governmenr. An
<br />examplc is the Tualatin Hills Park and
<br />Razcation Discricr. ln [he paz~, che dis-
<br />«~cc had co seek v~cer approval every
<br />~hree ~•ea~s for serisl lev;rs that the dis-
<br />~tia relicd upon for basic opcrations.
<br />\ow, chcuc Icvies are ~ermanen~. Cicies
<br />and coun~ies, but noc schools, sdll recain
<br />some revenue ficxibiliry in che right to
<br />pass a local option levy wich a majoriry
<br />of ~he eleceors~c as long as che Icx~a1 op-
<br />rion le~•}~ docs no~ boos< <he combined
<br />o~•eclapping Icvy rate above ~he Mcasure
<br />~ limics of $10 pcr $1,000 of asscsscd
<br />~•aluc.
<br />Whilc che imp9~Y of Measure SO hss
<br />~or bcen especially scvcre on ciues and
<br />councies in che fast-growing arcas oF che
<br />scace, slowcr growch ereas and, in
<br />paniculaG rural areas have fclc a greacer
<br />impacc. Ic wi11 rake more cimc for cheir
<br />Propercv caz rcvenues co recurn [o
<br />pre-~feasurc SO Icvels. As I~ng a~ growrh
<br />con~inues, many governmencs will not
<br />rind :vlcasure SO co bc an undue burden.
<br />1-~owc~•cG over chr Ivngcr ccrm, che limic is
<br />likrh• ro Constra~n_ F,~dg~e FI~Y~h,~
<br />and is no~ generally cccn as a posicivC
<br />faaor For credir qualiry, ~n additional
<br />credic conccrn looms on chc horizon,
<br />'1"here is alresdy pressure from sc~me arcas
<br />s
<br />in the scate co en3cc an iniria~ive co make
<br />~ocal opcion levi~s harder co appr~ve by
<br />reyuirir~q a na+o-rhirdc ~orc, inscead of a
<br />simp~c majoriry, ro approYe Icvics rhac
<br />incrc3sc raxes.
<br />School Districts
<br />Schoul distric[s genccally have becn un-
<br />scachrd from che cFfccts of m~sr of the
<br />rax limica~ions. Thi~ is because rh~ scace
<br />has eiehcr bce~ requircd or has felc politi-
<br />cally compcllcd ~~ incrcasc funding ~
<br />schools co offset che effeccs of che inicia-
<br />tives. Whilc rhis means ~ha~ sch~ol dis-
<br />triccs hav~ no~ fel~ the immedia~e hir ro
<br />~heir budgers ca-perienccd by cicie. and
<br />coundes, chey are now more dependEnr
<br />o~ the g~odwill of the scacc to provide
<br />rcvenues. Since schoo! di~c~icts are pre-
<br />cludcd from i~stituting local option !e~-
<br />ics, they havr almosc na co~nol over
<br />~hcir rcvenues, and almasc all of their
<br />bud};cting flexibiliry is on ~hc rxpertdi-
<br />curo sidc. Winc ~his Icssened Flexibilirv
<br />and incccased s~acc rolc, Oreg~n schools
<br />wil! need co con~inut co adapt ~heir budg-
<br />eung pr~kcJures ~o che ncw environmenc.
<br />Many ha~~e not yec im~lcmcn~ed che n•pc
<br />of budgec concrols comm~m i~ ocher
<br />scares ~hac havc a scrong scacc role in
<br />funding educacioa. I~ is noc uncomman
<br />~n Uregon co find discric~s granting wagc
<br />incrcases ovrr scveral years wich no sal-
<br />ary reopeners. This mean. rhat ~he dis•
<br />criccs arc making a bct on che fucucc
<br />direccion of srate funding. [f ~hsr funding
<br />were io dectine in a cecession year or it in-
<br />creases in rha~ fundi~g were less chan an-
<br />cicipaced, those dic~ricts would have no
<br />way of producing exrr~a ~evenues co fund
<br />the wagt hikcs; this would lead to somc
<br />difficulc budget ~ucs. ~l'hcrc is consider-
<br />able disagrcemcnc on what che level oF
<br />scace funding oE educaiion should be and
<br />what a fair diseribucion oF chac aid
<br />should look like. Urban discriccs wvuld
<br />~~kc to sce addicional monfes givcn the
<br />uniquc problemx chry face. Alxc~, as
<br />school funding con~inues m be debated
<br />~n chc stare, it is likcly chac c~dcs and
<br />councics will ftnd chcrosclves under in-
<br />creasing pressure co help fund schools_
<br />I~or cxample, nc~ ciry oE Ponland an~
<br />Mulcnomah C;oun~y havc provided excra
<br />r~sources co ~he (~ortland public schools
<br />in recenr ~•~rs, nd county voters ro-
<br />cendr approved a on~yrar tax ~o help
<br />fund ~h~ s~hool .
<br />Community Cof eges and
<br />Speciel Distric
<br />Communiry colt gt< hcc some of chc
<br />same usucs affe cing cchool disccic~c siacc
<br />~hey also rcly on srate Fundiag. As in
<br />ocher icares, ch wi11 more fikely com-
<br />pece ~~•ich K-12 ' rricca fo~ scxrce eduea-
<br />rion doUars. t'Io eve~ c~mmuniry
<br />colleges cend ~o ave more expendicure
<br />rlexibilin• rhan c cir K-12 couacerparts
<br />since morc of ~h ir staff are paro-rimcrs.
<br />(:c,mmuniry coll ~cs also have a small
<br />amounc ot flexib li .ry to sec scudent fecs,
<br />ss ~.•cll as charg~ fces from corporations
<br />and orher enr~cie chac use cheir strvices.
<br />To daee, addirion 1 revenucs from c~rp~-
<br />racions for wark r~raining have noc
<br />counced ar,ainst ~ eir revenucs ander che
<br />s~are fundinb fi~ ula. Commu~ity col-
<br />Icges alw mainra n chc abiJicy co in<ti~ute
<br />Icxal oprion lcv~a , but only up c~ an
<br />3m~unr equal ca hc Mcasure SO ~ax cuc.
<br />~'I~ che case of c x incremenc discrices,'"yl
<br />Irgislprion imple encinb Mcasure SO
<br />alloas discciccs to impose a special levy co
<br />~~inancc cheir cxis~ ng redevclopmenc plsn.
<br />/
<br />The State ,
<br />The scacc did nor ~ ee any rcvenuc reduc-
<br />~ion 3s a result of easure S0. However,
<br />rhe measure, cou ed wich ~he cax com-
<br />Fressian undcr !~9 sure S, placcd a
<br />~rearer burd~n on che scace co fund pub-
<br />lic cducac;on. Orc on has some F7cxibil-
<br />in•, ho~~~e~•er, sJncc no dollar amoun~ for
<br />scace suppore c~r e ucacion is specifically
<br />>rat~d in ~ieasure 0, other rhsn chc in-
<br />~nel rcquircmenc << fund sehool discricc
<br />shorcfalls caused b che roll back of
<br />ca~ea. H~~~v~vcr, ~h s~ace likcly wilt flnd
<br />icself Iacing incrca ing pnlirical p~essure
<br />to en~urc chac edu ~tic>n is funded ac lev-
<br />zIs that cvmparc f orably with od~er
<br />sra~es. IF Orcg<,n is nor resp~nsivc co rhe
<br />conccrns of vocers n chis rcgard, ic may
<br />tind irsrli facing a orc format limi~ simi-
<br />lar ro tha~ of Prop<.icion 98 in Califor-
<br />nia. Thar limit wo Id cssenrially require
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<br />51~ndu-d ~' Peer's Gro~ditWeek MNnicipal ~ iltt~ttsl l7, li9S
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