Hugo Neighborhood Association & Historical Society
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Hugo Neighborhood Association & Historical Society |
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DO YOU WANT A TAXING DISTRICT OR A CITIZEN ADVISORY COMMITTEE?
North Valley General Service Taxing District North Valley General Service District1 The North Valley General Service District (NVGSD) is a taxing district formed by the Josephine County Board of County Commissioners (BCC) in accordance with Oregon Revised Statute (ORS) 451.010 to include but not be limited to the services of sewage works, water supply works and storm drainage works in the North Valley area. Taxing districts have a narrow land use focus, never go away, and the board members are appointed by the BCC. The boundary for the NVGSD includes three areas focusing on the county industrial park east and south of the airport. Taxing Their are several financing methods available to the NVGSD to finance the construction, operation or maintenance of service facilities (ORS 451.490).Use of funds from a fund established under ORS 280.055 or 451.540 to be repaid by the district without interest.
Any combination of the above 7 provisions. NVGSD &MAAC2 "At the request of the board [BCC] (letter from Myrna enclosed) the commissioners have renamed the board the North Valley General Service District/Merlin Area Advisory Committee. Although they recognize the board as representative of area residents, they declined to commission the group." North Valley Citizen Advisory Committee(CAC) The North Valley CAC has a citizen elected board of directors. Its function is to review and provide comments to the Josephine County Rural Planning Commission (RPC) and/or the BCC on any land use or land division applications in its area.3 For example, CACs would be the public forum for residents of potential "unincorporated communities" to participate in the planning process to create boundaries for unincorporated communities.4Even though there is a certified CAC in the North Valley area, the RPC and BCC have been focused on forming an urban or rural "unincorporated community" in Merlin and North Valley for an area much larger than the NVGSD’s boundaries. This has been especially true since around 1998 - 99, and the Merlin and North Valley Regional Problem Solving process. And, the RPC and BCC are proceeding by involving the public through a taxing district — the NVGSD/MAAC. The NVGSD/MAAC is not an acknowledged CAC under Ordinance 93-13. This new name, which was suggested and approved by the BCC in 1999, gives the wrong impression that this taxing district is in fact a CAC, or acting like a CAC. The RPC and BCC are using the NVGSD/-MAAC as a surrogate CAC even while there is a "certified" CAC to represent the citizens in the area — the North Valley CAC. Citizens Taking ActionOn June 16, 2000 the Hugo Neighborhood Association, Merlin-North Valley Community Improvement Association, and the North Valley Neighborhood Association jointly authored a letter to the BCC. "The RPC and the NVGSD&MAC are proceeding without the Josephine County's Citizen Involvement Program (specifically, Josephine County Ordinance No. 93-13) being implemented for the Merlin - North Valley Area UUC project. We believe that this limits the credibility and accountability of the process." On September 20, 2000 the Hugo Neighborhood Association again wrote the BCC about using the NVGSD&MAC as a surrogate CAC as part of a citizen-initiated enforcement order petition. "In effect, the BCC probably appointed a cause specific committee (i.e., the MAC part of the NVGSD&MAC) because its CIP and CAC program had failed in the North Valley area, but it still needed to satisfy JCO 93-13 and Goal 1. Why would Commissioners "appoint" members of an advisory committee, yet allow the original North Valley CAC to disappear through distant neglect?" We believe the county’s citizen involvement plan and OAR 660-022-0060 make it clear that the citizen-elected board of the North Valley CAC is responsible for representing and providing citizen comments for the unincorporated community rule process in the Merlin-North Valley area, not the government appointed board members of the NVGSD/MAC. Please let the North Valley CAC do its job. More Information How do you feel? If you agree with us please make your interests known to your neighbors and officers of CACs and NAs. Would you like to learn more? Contact an officer of the Hugo Neighborhood and/or the Joe Creek Neighborhood Association.
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© 2011 Hugo Neighborhood Association & Historical Society |
