County looking at public safety tax alternatives.Byline: Diane Dietz The Register-Guard The County Board of Commissioners voted 3-1 Wednesday to advance a plan to enact either a sales tax sales tax, levy on the sale of goods or services, generally calculated as a percentage of the selling price, and sometimes called a purchase tax. It is usually collected in the form of an extra charge by the retailer, who remits the tax to the government. or a business gross receipts tax A gross receipts tax, sometimes referred to as a gross excise tax, is a tax on the total gross revenues of a company, regardless of their source. It is similar to a sales tax, but it is levied on the seller of goods or services rather than the consumer. to pay for public safety. But what exactly that vote could mean to future taxes or the solvency The ability of an individual to pay his or her debts as they mature in the normal and ordinary course of business, or the financial condition of owning property of sufficient value to discharge all of one's debts. solvency n. of the county's law enforcement, jail and drug treatment system is unclear. The majority - Anna Morrison, Faye Stewart and Bobby Green - said they were merely advancing a generic plan to fix the system, until next week when the board will conduct a thorough examination of all the ways to pay for public safety. They said the board had to get the ball rolling so commissioners could meet the deadline for getting a potential measure in the May election voters' pamphlet pamphlet, short unbound or paper-bound book of from 64 to 96 pages. The pamphlet gained popularity as an instrument of religious or political controversy, giving the author and reader full benefit of freedom of the press. in case they want to put the tax proposal in front of the public. "I don't feel that by my action today that I've locked myself in to a funding mechanism," Morrison said. Commissioner Peter Sorenson cast the lone no vote. The fifth commissioner, Bill Dwyer, was absent. Next Wednesday, the board is scheduled to work its way through a 13-step set of decisions about the state of public safety, how to improve it and how to pay for improvements, including through a retail sales tax, a business gross receipts tax, a personal income tax or a corporate income tax, according to Jim According to Jim is an American situation comedy television series originally broadcast by ABC. The show premiered with little publicity in October 2001, following the surprise hit comedy My Wife and Kids. Johnson, a consultant whom the board hired to guide the discussion. But Sorenson said the other commissioners are trying to hoodwink hood·wink tr.v. hood·winked, hood·wink·ing, hood·winks 1. To take in by deceptive means; deceive. See Synonyms at deceive. 2. Archaic To blindfold. 3. Obsolete To conceal. the public into a retail sales tax. "In my judgment, the people of Lane County do not want a sales tax. In my view, it's not a good idea for us to be the first county in the state of Oregon to initiate a sales tax," said Sorenson, who is running for the Oregon governorship. The sales tax proposal commissioners discussed Wednesday "was not a proposal to reduce property taxes. This was not a proposal to have a referral to the people. This was a proposal to have a sales tax enacted by the Lane County Board of Commissioners," Sorenson said. Although Sorenson focused on the sales tax, it may be the gross receipts tax that gets the most attention when the commissioners convene CONVENE, civil law. This is a technical term, signifying to bring an action. next week. A poll released Tuesday found that a sampling of likely voters would prefer the business tax over a sales tax. Sixty-two percent of the 400 randomly selected Lane County residents said they would approve of the business tax when coupled with a property tax reduction. "People are much more familiar with a sales tax, and they know they don't like that," said Johnson, the consultant. "They're less familiar with a gross receipts tax and it sounds like someone else is going to pay that tax." Commissioner Faye Stewart said the board has to do something at next Wednesday's meeting. "We have an absolute necessity to do something to fix public safety. This is the recommendation that was recommended to us; we're moving forward with it," he said. WHAT'S NEXT The Board of County Commissioners is looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. more taxes to buy more law enforcement, more jail space and additional treatment for drug addicted ad·dict·ed adj. 1. Physiologically or psychologically dependent on a habit-forming substance. 2. Compulsively or habitually involved in a practice or behavior, such as gambling. criminals. Here are the next steps: Board discussion: 9 a.m. Wednesday in the commissioners' board room at the Lane County Courthouse. Daytime Daytime may refer to:
public hearing: Nov. 1 at 1:30 p.m. in Room 104, Building 19 at Lane Community College. Evening public hearing: Nov. 1 at 6 p.m. in Room 104, Building 19 at Lane Community College. Work session:Nov. 2 at the commissioners' regular board meeting at the Lane County Courthouse. |
|
||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion