County Payments Betrayal
C. H. McMillan
January 04, 2008
Rural timber dependent counties “sucker-punched” (Oregonian editorial 12/15) as federal government repudiates the obligation to compensate for the vast reaches of untaxed federally controlled acreage.
To you and me the question needs to be: how are us “sucker's” gonna punch back.
When presidents, starting with Teddy Roosevelt, began setting aside chunks of the 11 Western states, by executive decree, as national parks or forest reserves the intention seemed honorable enough that “We the People” allowed that intrusion even though it is in direct violation of the Constitutional caveat limiting federal ownership of land within the several states. Things were made more palatable by a Federal promise to compensate counties with 25% of the receipts from the sale of resources harvested on the reserved lands.
Things went tolerably well until the advent of the environmental movement, which brought about a drastic reduction in timber harvest and a corresponding reduction in County payments. Our politicians advanced an alternative, Payment In Lieu of Taxes (PILT), which still acknowledged the Federal commitment, however, in the face of escalating government insolvency they want to cut us off; our roads, our schools, library’s, our police and our jails.
Westerners must say, NO WAY! It is past time for a Constitutional confrontation.
Such a confrontation nearly occurred in the mid 1990’s and became known as the “Sagebrush Rebellion” as it spread through the rural west where the ever more regulatory federal agencies were in constant conflict with private land owners. Carlton Co., NM took the first legislative stance but the popular triggering event occurred in Nye County, NV. where a County Commissioner named Dick Carver (may God rest his anti-federalist, patriot soul) fired up his bulldozer and repaired an historical road (RS 2477 passage of right-a-way) across national forest land in defiance of armed federal agents who were blocking the road. Carver’s example attracted support in many quarters from local groups and individuals all across the west, however, the movement eventually waned in the face of agency obstructionism, leftist judicial rulings, procedural stonewalling and, more importantly, because too few actual citizens were affected.
That is not the case here and now; every individual, every level of government, from schools to cities to counties and all the services they provide us, are going to feel the pinch and it’s going to get excruciating – FAST!
Only another REBELLION, broader based and much more vocal with outrage and indignation will move to restore our rightful compensation.
Grousing, whining and bellyaching by supplicating politicians isn’t going to save the day. We need to get them off their compromising backsides to tackle this betrayal head on. Any Western governor could do it except for the fact that they're nearly all Democrats (Arnold not withstanding) of staunchly socialist (green - enviro) inclinations.
There is another, maybe better, 1st step approach in “throwing down the glove”, since the Fed has welched, through local activism insisting that elected county assessors and tax collectors apply the same formula of appraisal and tax assessment to federally managed lands that they apply to private holdings. Better yet, a coalition of assessors from all across the Western states but any one could get the ball rolling.
If the Fed doesn't pay the bill, Counties should just foreclose and use the proceeds of sale to fund services. What do you think a Crater Lake National Park would bring on the auction block; a Yellowstone or a Yosemite? Then think of the continuing revenue stream if that real estate and tourist magnate were taxed as private business. We could probably substantially reduce property taxes on farms and homes and still have much more total revenue to fund local services.
Know an Assessor with some guts who wants a place in history books?
Get ‘em on board!
Get County Commissioners across the west to organize through their state and regional Associations to act in unity to confront this devastating betrayal.
To you and me the question needs to be: how are us “sucker's” gonna punch back.
When presidents, starting with Teddy Roosevelt, began setting aside chunks of the 11 Western states, by executive decree, as national parks or forest reserves the intention seemed honorable enough that “We the People” allowed that intrusion even though it is in direct violation of the Constitutional caveat limiting federal ownership of land within the several states. Things were made more palatable by a Federal promise to compensate counties with 25% of the receipts from the sale of resources harvested on the reserved lands.
Things went tolerably well until the advent of the environmental movement, which brought about a drastic reduction in timber harvest and a corresponding reduction in County payments. Our politicians advanced an alternative, Payment In Lieu of Taxes (PILT), which still acknowledged the Federal commitment, however, in the face of escalating government insolvency they want to cut us off; our roads, our schools, library’s, our police and our jails.
Westerners must say, NO WAY! It is past time for a Constitutional confrontation.
Such a confrontation nearly occurred in the mid 1990’s and became known as the “Sagebrush Rebellion” as it spread through the rural west where the ever more regulatory federal agencies were in constant conflict with private land owners. Carlton Co., NM took the first legislative stance but the popular triggering event occurred in Nye County, NV. where a County Commissioner named Dick Carver (may God rest his anti-federalist, patriot soul) fired up his bulldozer and repaired an historical road (RS 2477 passage of right-a-way) across national forest land in defiance of armed federal agents who were blocking the road. Carver’s example attracted support in many quarters from local groups and individuals all across the west, however, the movement eventually waned in the face of agency obstructionism, leftist judicial rulings, procedural stonewalling and, more importantly, because too few actual citizens were affected.
That is not the case here and now; every individual, every level of government, from schools to cities to counties and all the services they provide us, are going to feel the pinch and it’s going to get excruciating – FAST!
Only another REBELLION, broader based and much more vocal with outrage and indignation will move to restore our rightful compensation.
Grousing, whining and bellyaching by supplicating politicians isn’t going to save the day. We need to get them off their compromising backsides to tackle this betrayal head on. Any Western governor could do it except for the fact that they're nearly all Democrats (Arnold not withstanding) of staunchly socialist (green - enviro) inclinations.
There is another, maybe better, 1st step approach in “throwing down the glove”, since the Fed has welched, through local activism insisting that elected county assessors and tax collectors apply the same formula of appraisal and tax assessment to federally managed lands that they apply to private holdings. Better yet, a coalition of assessors from all across the Western states but any one could get the ball rolling.
If the Fed doesn't pay the bill, Counties should just foreclose and use the proceeds of sale to fund services. What do you think a Crater Lake National Park would bring on the auction block; a Yellowstone or a Yosemite? Then think of the continuing revenue stream if that real estate and tourist magnate were taxed as private business. We could probably substantially reduce property taxes on farms and homes and still have much more total revenue to fund local services.
Know an Assessor with some guts who wants a place in history books?
Get ‘em on board!
Get County Commissioners across the west to organize through their state and regional Associations to act in unity to confront this devastating betrayal.
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