Document text
Central Point voters will get to decide fee-approval debate By BUFFY POLLOCK CENTRAL POINT - A second attempt in two years at an initiative to require voter approval on new fees and fee increases finally tallied enough signatures to generate an election - but barely. The two-part petition, filed in May by Citizens to Protect Voters Rights, was submitted to City Administrator Jim Bennett late last month. Bennett said each part originally had about 1,600 names, but signature verification by the county clerk last week found that one third of the signatures belonged to people not registered to vote. The final counts came to just 20 more than the 1,061 needed on each. "I obviously didn't expect the numbers to be that close, but I'm just very pleased we'll get to take it to voters," said petition spokeswoman Carol Fischer, a former councilwoman. If approved, the measure would force the city to hold an election any time it wished to raise fees or impose new ones. It would be retroactive to the day it was filed in May, meaning several building and planning department fee increases passed in June would be annulled. "Those are the kind of fees we need this thing for," Fischer said. But Mayor Bill Walton argued that the increases in planning, building and business license fees were "not to make the city rich, but to make those departments self-supporting." Fischer said the petition results spoke for themselves. "I think that, by the number of signatures we collected of people wanting to put it on the ballot, the council can see which way the voters are leaning," she said. "The city will have to learn to make adjustments when there's not enough money and live within its budget," she said, adding that recent talk of storm drain and street user fees were "all the more reason" fees should be decided by voters. She said petitioners would campaign door-to-door as the election drew closer. Council President Bill Stults said he felt the council had been accountable to voters and some campaigning would likely be necessary to inform voters of the numbers. "We already have some of the lowest rates in the state compared to other cities," Stults said. "And the staff and council are very aware that we're responsible for the taxpayers' dollar and we're striving to see they get their money's worth. "If everything has to be put to a vote, it could end up costing more in the long run. Elections aren't free, either." The petition will be reviewed and certified by City Council at its meeting Nov. 29. Buffy Pollock is a free-lance writer living in Medford. E-mail her at [email protected] . Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.