Voters approve three percent cap on city taxes

City officials concerned about implications of Measure 3-346

By Evan Jensen

The Estacada News, Nov 11, 2009 (2 Reader comments)

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City of Estacada voters approved Measure 3-346 with 56 percent in favor of the tax measure that will require voter approval for any tax, fee or rate increase of more than three percent. The measure also rescinds any rate increases above three percent made since August 2008.

Estacada resident and chief petitioner Dora Morgan spearheaded the effort to gain voter support for the tax measure and received support from Americans For Prosperity-Oregon to collect enough signatures to place the measure on the Nov. 3 ballot. Morgan’s supporters included former Estacada School Board candidates Ralph Hatley and Mark Luedtke, former Estacada Mayor Tom Nelson and former City Council Member Kay Nelson, among others.

Morgan declined to comment when contacted by the Estacada News last week about the outcome of the election, and Tom Nelson only acknowledged that the measure passed when reached by phone.

“I think it’s great that it passed,” Nelson said. “I have nothing more to say to you. Goodbye.”

But the Americans For Prosperity-Oregon claimed another victory when the measure passed and issued a statement regarding the outcome of the election in a press release.

“The voters of Estacada have spoken,” said AFP-Oregon State Director Jeff Kropf. “…They want to reclaim control of their wallets. In these difficult economic times, governments across Oregon should be searching for ways to reduce the burden they impose on citizens. The city [of Estacada] will now have to work collaboratively with voters to determine what programs are worth funding, and what sources of revenue make sense. It’s a new fiscal era of responsibility and discipline in Estacada. I can’t thank our AFP-Oregon volunteers enough for the tremendous effort they make.”

Measure 3-346 is modeled after similar measures approved in Damascus in March 2008 and Cascade Locks in 2007. Both measures also received endorsements from AFP-Oregon. Measure 3-346 limits the ability of city officials to raise rates, fees or taxes of any kind by more than three percent without voter approval.

And while supporters encouraged voters to vote yes on the measure to repeal a three-cent per gallon gas tax approved by the City Council earlier this year, the gas tax became a separate issue in the days before the Nov. 3 election. Voters will decide the fate of the three-cent gas tax proposal designed to provide a funding source for road repairs and improvements in March 2010. While the outcome of the gas tax issue remains to be decided, city officials are concerned about the implications of Measure 3-346.

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