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Legislators: Governor's tax boosts won't fly Along with raising sin taxes, Kitzhaber proposes cuts to plug a hole in the budget By DAMIAN MANN, JONEL ALECCIA and MARK FREEMAN Mail Tribune Lawmakers criticized Gov. John Kitzhaber's new budget reduction plan released Wednesday, saying it is doomed to failure because it proposes raising taxes to partially offset an $830 million deficit. "The votes just aren't there in the House or the Senate," said Sen. Lenn Hannon, R-Ashland. Kitzhaber's plan calls for repealing a voter-approved income tax cut, raising beer and wine taxes by about 5 cents a drink and increasing cigarette taxes by 30 cents a pack. Smokers outside the Rogue Valley Mall concurred with lawmakers. Sharing a single cigarette on a storefront bench, Tyrel Qualls, 18, and Shawn Bipat, 17, objected to Kitzhaber targeting the so-called "sin taxes" for increases. "People won't stop smoking," said Qualls of Medford. "Why raise those prices on those two things? Why doesn't he raise the price of gas? I don't have a car." Hannon said the governor is fully aware of opposition to this portion of the plan, which will be discussed in a special session on Feb. 8. "But, I guess it's easy to propose something when the votes aren't there," he said. In addition to increasing taxes, the governor proposes cutting primary and secondary education by $112 million, community colleges by $15.5 million, the university system by $44.5 million, human services by $69.7 million and public safety programs by $73.1 million. For Jackson County schools, the plan would mean cuts of roughly $160 a student, or about $5 million. Added together, these reductions and others would amount to $414 million, far less than earlier proposed under a cut-only plan. What legislators don't like is the governor's proposal to generate $133 million by repealing Measure 88's increase from $3,000 to $5,000 in the maximum deduction of federal income taxes from state taxes; $44 million by increasing the beer and wine tax; and $67 million by bumping up cigarette taxes. Kitzhaber defended his plan by saying, "For the long-term financial health of the state and for long-term budget stability, it is important that we produce real revenue options." Hannon said that in the middle of an election year it would be almost impossible for the governor to get the three-fifths majority needed to get these plans passed. Rep. Alan Bates, a Democrat formerly of Eagle Point now living in Ashland, said adding tax burdens to the faltering Oregon economy would be unwise. He also believes the governor's plan faces an uphill battle. "How much traction and support it will have up here will be real fun to find out," he said. Bates is more optimistic that the governor could get some support for increasing the cigarette tax, but not for increasing taxes on beer and wine. "That could hurt the wine industry in Oregon," he said. He also supports tapping into one-time money, something the governor opposes. Bates said schools should have to absorb only a 1 percent cut, rather than the 2.2 percent under Kitzhaber's plan. Even though the governor's proposal would mean fewer cuts, it still would have a significant impact in Jackson County. Medford schools Superintendent Steve Wisely said he expects cuts, but he doesn't put too much stock in the governor's recent proposal. "I'm not doing anything with any proposal until the final one is made," he said. "There are a lot of constructive things I can do with education rather than chase ghosts." Until final budget figures come in March, Wisely said, it would be futile to expend any energy worrying about potential cuts to his district. Southern Oregon social service workers praised the theory behind Kitzhaber's plan, which trims cuts in the state Department of Human Services from about 6 percent to 2.7 percent. "Obviously, this is much more optimistic," said Ida Saito, regional director. "It seems to restore the pieces that really support the working poor." But neither Saito nor other social service managers had had time to analyze what programs and services were salvaged under Kitzhaber's newest scenario. Arnie Green, director of Community Works, said he has adopted a wait-and-see attitude. "(Kitzhaber) has mitigated some of the cuts based on the hope that the Legislature will pass on some increased revenue, which I'm hearing on the other side is not going to happen," Green said. "I'm still holding my breath and waiting for the actual decision to be made." In other areas, Kitzhaber's proposal restores the operation of four fish hatcheries, including the Elk River Hatchery in Port Orford, out of five coastal hatcheries tapped for closure in the first round of proposed budget cuts. Wednesday's package also restores 20 detectives to the Oregon State Police statewide, but still calls for the elimination of the rural crime labs in Coos Bay and three other areas. The biggest local impact on the OSP, however, is a proposal to cut the agency's 2003 recruit school, which is designed to plug new troopers into open positions across the state. In Jackson County, the OSP had 22 patrol officers last March but currently are down to 16 because of retirements and transfers that have sat unfilled, said OSP Lt. Dan Durbin. With two more troopers set for retirement in the next year, the local force will be down to 14 by spring 2003 if these cuts remain, Durbin said. One of the few agencies for which the second round of cut proposals was worse than the first was the Oregon Department of Forestry. The department's budget is paid largely through timber taxes, but Kitzhaber's initial plan called for cutting some currently unfilled positions - including four seasonal firefighting jobs in southwestern Oregon, Assistant State Forester Clark Seely said. Wednesday's budget proposal included all the previously fingered cuts and a plan to take away the remaining $390,000 used to pay for extra firefighting efforts during a severe fire season like the one last year, Seely says. The $390,000 is what is left of $1 million given by the Legislature last year to state firefighting efforts amid the drought-ravaged summer fire season, Seely says. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.