Two Jackson County commissioners will embark next week on a last-ditch effort to save a $23 million federal timber program that pays for sheriff's patrols, libraries, roads and health services.
Dave Gilmour and C.W. Smith will head to Washington, D.C., joining representatives from up to 200 counties nationwide who are worried that Congress and the president may discontinue funding a program that helps timber-dependent areas.
"It's going to be a very difficult struggle, and we don't know what the outcome will be," said Gilmour of the lobbying effort. "This will be our last chance."
Federal regulations have curtailed the amount of timber harvests on federal lands in Jackson County over the years. As a result, the federal government created the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self Determination Act to help counties deal with the loss of revenues. It expires in 2007.
The Bush administration has indicated it might reauthorize the payments for another year. The program pumps about $450 million to counties throughout the U.S.
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If it doesn't pass, Smith said, "It's going to have a devastating impact on the state of Oregon."
Locally, the loss of the money will have a ripple effect on real estate, banking and schools, he said. "When you take $23 million in payroll out of a county, it's going to have an impact," said Smith.
He said the money represents only a portion of the county's $270 million budget, but it is a critical portion.
Most of the budget represents so-called "pass-through" dollars from the state or federal government that are earmarked for specific things such as health services or road improvements.
But the county has more flexibility in how it spends the timber money, which is used for sheriff's patrols, libraries and other services.
Smith said the timber act originally was designed to help counties figure out how to responsibly log to replace the lost revenues. But timber harvest continues to fall throughout the country, he said.
Representatives from the timber-dependent counties are going to divide up in teams to lobby legislators from each state for their support for a renewal of the timber money.
Smith will meet with the Ohio delegation, and Gilmour will talk to legislators from New York, where he went to high school.
Jackson County is in better shape than other counties in Oregon. A rainy-day fund of about $20 million will maintain many services for about two years, giving the county time to come up with other solutions.
Anticipating the loss of money, Jackson County Library Services is asking voters this November to approve a five-year tax levy that would place an additional 66 cents on each $1,000 of assessed valuation. For a house with an average assessed valuation of $167,000, the levy would add $110.22 annually. This tax would generate an estimated $8.2 million in fiscal year 2007-08.
County officials are hoping the federal government continues the timber program to give them enough time to come up with solutions to maintain services.
"We have to recognize that even if it gets reauthorized for six years, this will be the last six years," said Gilmour. "We're hoping for the best, and praying it won't be the worst."
Reach reporter Damian Mann at 776-4476 or dmann@mailtribune.com.
