For almost a century, many counties across the nation have received payments from the federal government as compensation for containing national forests. Last year, 33 of Oregon’s 36 counties shared $220 million from the federal government under the program. Lane County, which contains Eugene, received $47 million.
But the payments – which served as the lifeblood for schools, roads, criminal justice and public health – expired in September 2006, and unlike before, there is little sign from Congress that they will be renewed again.
This has left Lane County – and especially its criminal justice system – scrambling to find a way to replenish its funding source or brace for massive cuts. The cuts could force the district attorney to choose which cases he is able to prosecute, leaving certain types of crimes virtually unpunishable in the county.
For example, if the Lane County District Attorney decides to cease prosecuting auto crimes, and subsequently a Eugene police officer catches someone stealing a car red-handed, the only action the officer could take is to make the thief give the car back, and then let the criminal go scot-free, Eugene Police Chief Rob Lehner said during the Feb. 15 Police Commission meeting.
If a funding solution is not found by around April 2007, hundreds of public safety and public health workers would be laid off, said Lane County Budget Manager Dave Garnick.
The cuts could even include 764 jail beds, leaving only 84 beds remaining for local offenders, according to a letter from Lane County Sheriff Russel Burger to the Lane County Board of Commissioners. There are 92 offenders currently jailed for charges to the degree of rape, robbery, murder and kidnapping, according to the letter.
“If the county loses the (federal payments), and this is not made up in some way, we as a community and a region are facing a public safety crisis we’ve never seen here,” Lehner said.
Burger recommended to the Lane County Board of Commissioners that they enact a temporary tax to fill the void left by the lost revenue.
How we got here
When President Theodore Roosevelt began designating lands as national forests in the late 1800s, counties across the nation – which were restricted from developing on the national forests in their counties – lobbied Congress to pass a law that required the federal government to share 25 percent of the revenue generated from timber harvests on those lands. Until the late 1980s, this system worked, and enough money was paid to these counties that their taxes were lower than most others.
The system worked so well that Lane County, which is made up of nearly 55 percent of federal forest lands, earned a large enough portion of revenue from the law that its taxes were lower than most other counties in the state. In the early 1990s, voters in Lane County passed a measure that put a cap on the amount of property taxes that could be increased each year, which essentially locked Lane County into an artificially low tax rate, Garnick said.
Because tax inflation was unable to keep up with regular inflation of the cost of services, the county has been forced to make cuts to services each year to stay within its budget, according to a Lane County frequently asked questions form.
Also during the time of the measure’s passing, Oregon was hit with a timber recession. The recession was fueled in part by the passage of more restrictive environmental laws to protect the forests and its wildlife, such as the spotted owl. Gradually, those 25 percent payments were reduced dramatically, Intergovernmental Relations Manager Tony Bieda said.
Because the timber industry hasn’t fully recovered, counties in Oregon went to Congress in the late 1990s and said, “Wait a minute, you’re killing us,” Bieda said.
Congress and then-President Bill Clinton responded, and enacted the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self Determination Act of 2000 (SRS), which provided dependent counties with a fixed annual payment that mirrored the amounts these counties were receiving during better years of logging. These payments translated into $220 million for Oregon’s dependent counties last year. Of that money, $47 million went to Lane County, which was then split up with $7 million going to schools, $20 million to roads and $20 million – roughly one third – to the general fund to pay for things like elections, the Sheriff’s and the District Attorney’s offices and public health programs.
Despite having the support of 22 senators and 62 representatives in Congress, the act was not extended after it expired in 2006. The likelihood of it ever being extended seems unlikely, Garnick said. Part of the reason the act is unlikely to be renewed is because it affects only some states greatly, and others not as much. Currently, 42 states receive money through SRS, but Oregon takes most of the share – 54 percent of the national total.
In anticipation for the eventual loss of the SRS, Lane County created Ballot Measure 20-114 in November 2006 that would have created an income tax intended to fill the gaping hole in the budget – but the measure was defeated.
Also in anticipation for a loss in revenue, the Lane County Management Team crafted a prioritization list of services, and drew a line at the position where cuts would begin: on line 28 on a list of 74 services.
“I don’t think any of the options (for cuts) are good ones,” Lehner said. “We are very much at the brink.”
Bieda said that if Lane County doesn’t find a solution before April 2007, it will begin issuing pink slips to about 250 public safety and public health workers.
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