Abstract:
Changes in federal forest management, enactment of environmental policies, recessions and a
shift to a global economy dramatically impacted counties between the 1980s and 1990s. In the
1990s, counties began experiencing a shift away from traditional natural resource extraction
activities – amidst changing demographics resulting from rural restructuring taking place across
the west by baby-boomers and amenity seekers – towards more service, recreation and tourism
oriented economies. Progressive population increases have escalated demand for county
government services, while progressively declining populations have reduced county tax bases.
At the same time, voter-initiated state tax measures fixed property tax rates and restricted annual
increases in property tax assessments, reflecting anti-tax/anti-government sentiments. The
federal government’s attempt to stabilize payments to county governments perpetuated a
continued reliance on these payments through the authorization of OBRA in 1993 and the
subsequent authorization of SRS in 2000 and reauthorizations in 2007 and 2008, in spite of their
impending expiration.
Taken together, all of these factors have influenced the actions of Oregon county governments
faced with the loss of SRS payments. However, federal forest and state property tax policies are
the predominant structural constraints that influence county government decision making. Or –
to quote the Association of Oregon Counties – together they have created “structural handcuffs”
that have narrowed the choices available to county government (AOC, 2007), making difficult
for counties to raise additional revenues necessary to maintain public service levels of the past.
The result has been dramatic cuts to staff and service levels in programs and departments, which
vary by county.
