Oregon counties are making major cuts in road and bridge maintenance, emergency services, sheriffs' departments and administration because they are no longer getting money to compensate them for national-forest land that is off the tax rolls, the Portland Business Journal reports. The cuts are a result of the loss of federal forest payments received through Secure Rural Schools funding. "More than one in five counties will cut those services by at least 10 percent during the fiscal year that began July 1," Oregon State University said in a news release.
OSU's Rural Studies Program conducted the study, which found that many counties started making cuts three years ago in anticipation of the Secure Rural Schools program's expiration. "These impacts are most pronounced in the eastern and southwestern parts of the state, where federal forest payments have comprised a greater percentage of the counties’ budgets,” said Brent Steel, a professor of political science at OSU and a co-author of the study. Approximately half the counties are considering tax or fee increases to offset part of the shortage. Click here to view the report.
"In response to the loss of revenues from reduced timber sales, Congress enacted the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self Determination Act in 2000 to stabilize county payments from national-forest lands," writes Elizabeth Stevens for The Paradise Post. "However, that legislation has expired and Congress has yet to take action to reauthorize the program. Rural school districts are now faced with losing millions of dollars in funding that they have relied upon for years."
Oregon, Idaho, California, Washington, Montana and Alaska receive most of the money, but Mississippi, Arkansas and other Southern states also receive considerable payments. The program "helps pay for schools, roads and public safety in 700 rural counties in 39 states," Matthew Daly writes for The Associated Press.
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