Editorial

Counties should pay their way

The Sandy Post, Nov 17, 2009, Updated Nov 17, 2009 (1 Reader comment)

Not to beat a dead horse … but ... Commissioner Lynn Peterson doesn’t get it when it comes to frustration with the likely mandate that residents of northeast Clackamas County will help pay for a shiny new Sellwood Bridge across the Willamette River in Multnomah County.

Peterson, while speaking recently during a Boring CPO meeting, said people in Clackamas County already pay for bridge and highway projects throughout Oregon, among them many projects they’ll never use. The message, we gather, is that Clackamas County residents shouldn’t mind paying for a bridge in Multnomah County, even though they may never use it.

She’s right, to a degree. After all, Clackamas County residents are Oregonians. So we’re more than happy to pay our fair share for statewide road and bridge improvements. Likewise, as Americans, we’re comfortable with our tax dollars being used for the maintenance and improvement of federal highways.

But, as residents of Clackamas County, we are not Multnomah County residents. And those of us who live in northeast Clackamas County will get almost nothing for our forced involvement in this funding strategy.

We wonder what the response would be if the residents of Multnomah County were asked – hypothetically – to accept an increase in auto-registration fees to help the city of Sandy improve access to its industrial area. Clearly, such improvements would help move goods and services to Multnomah County residents, and surely Multnomah County residents have helped pay for other services elsewhere in the state that they’ll never use.

No surprise here, the response would be a resounding “NO.” They’d say the city of Sandy should pay for it themselves or apply for grants. Rest assured, Multnomah County residents would not share the cost of Sandy’s infrastructure. Nor should Multnomah County residents shoulder the cost – even a small cost – for projects in neighboring counties or cities.

It’s just as silly to suggest that Clackamas County residents should happily skip to the DMV to pay higher auto-registration fees for this project in Multnomah County.

Interestingly, we agree with Peterson that some portions of Clackamas County – such as Milwaukie – do depend on the Sellwood Bridge. But because Clackamas County can’t legally charge some residents higher auto registration fees, while exempting others, we’d recommend the entire idea be scrapped and that Multnomah County devise a new funding strategy.

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