Bulletin Daily Paper 1-5-13

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Serving Central Oregon since1903 75 $

SATURDAY January 5,2013

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SPORTS• C1

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bendbulletin.com TODAY'S READERBOARD

Park proect fundraisers eye easing

Food safety —In thewake of deadly outbreaks in melons,

nuts and leafy greens, new FDA rules aim to prevent 3,000 deaths by foodborne illness.A3

By Dylan J. Darling The Bulletin

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Bulletin staff report

As many as 50,000 Deschutes County taxpayers can expect a hike in their property taxes Small-scale solar-

when their bills arrive in the fall, some of them appreciable hikes, according to county Asses-

From rooftop panels to modestsized plants, newtechnology

sor Scot Langton.

is transforming the uses of this

renewable energysource.A3 r

h

No, the County Commission did not pass a secret tax hike. The roots of the situation lie in Measure 50, the voter-approved change to Oregon's Constitution that pegs property tax increases to maximum assessed value. The assessed value, which may grow only 3 percent per year, does not coincide with the real market value, which may fluctuate over time depending on what someone is willing to pay for the property.

Ill SpertS —With an eyeon re-entering cycling, LanceArmstrong may admit to doping.C1

Odituary —John Sheardown, a Canadian diplomat

who sheltered four American "house guests" until they were shuttled out of lran during the

hostage crisis, has died.B5

"You overlay that with the volatile real estate market that especially Central Oregon has experienced — both up, and now down — and you get some outcomes I don't knowwere necessarily anticipated when we did our last major change to the (tax) system," Langton said Wednesday. "They're now going to start showing themselves, I think, rather significantly."

No more predictability

The story behind the restoration of Thomas Jefferson's tomb-

Tax regulations and housing markets make for complicated topics. But the situation in Central Oregon comes down to a case of wide swings in the housing market. Tax bills remained predictable until the recentrecession and the end ofthe housing boom in Central Oregon. Withthe2008housingbust, market values in some cases fell below assessed values. Because property taxes are pegged to whichever value is lower, tax bills actually fell for some property owners. (The chart at left shows how) On the rebound, however, those same property owners may see their tax bills climb by more than 3 percent, as much as 20 percent. Only when the market value meets or exceeds the assessed value will tax bills return to more predictable levels.

it wound up half a country away from his final resting place.

bendbnlletin.cnm/extras

EDITOR'5CHOICE

Predicting vio ence is an inexact science By David Brown The Washington Post

After every act of incomprehensible violence, the world asks whether the killer could have been identified ahead of time. It's as automatic as the call for more gun control and better mental health services.

Psychologists and psychiatrists have been working for decades to try to figure out whether there's a link between mental illness and violence, and if so, which people are likely to act. Using an ever-changing tool kit of theories and questionnaires, they've made some progress. It's now fairly clear, for example, that people with severe mental illness, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and some personality disorders, are more likely to commit violent acts than others. But the risk is small. The vast majority of mentally ill people won't commit assault, rape, arson or homicide, although the

risk rises sharply among those who abuse drugs and alcohol. These insights are proving useful to psychologists, judges, educators and otherswho must decide whether someone seems too dangerous to be left alone. But they aren't good enough to identify an Adam Lanza, the Sandy Hook Elementary shooter. SeeViolence /A4

As the housing market rebounds, many property owners will see their tax bills increase, as the real market value of many homes will exceed thet maximum

assessed value for the first time in years. Thetaxable value of a home is the lower of either the real market value or the maximum assessed value. While real market value fluctuates with the market, the maximum assessed value increases by a

slower and more predictable rate.

AN EXAMPLE OF WHAT COULD HAPPEN IN2013 A home is purchased in 2008 for $375,000. Its maximum

And a Wed exclusivestone — and the mystery ofhow

How achangingmarket affects whatyoupayin taxes

Measure 50

assessed value is $296,117, sothe tax is based onthe lower value. By 2010, the real market value had plunged below the maximum

assessed value, so that lower number becomesthe taxable value.

$375K Real market

value

$350K

assessed value 300K

250K

$340K

Maximum $ 314K

8305K

$3 1 4 K

2008

2009

$275K

2010

2011

programs, leagues and teams for soccer players ages 4 to 18. Shore said much of the money will come from local and regional companies. "Most of these people won't donate any money unless you've got land," Shore said. The soccer club is just one of a handful of user groups in Bend that will be fundraising in coming years to support a project with the park district, but the other agreements won't feature contracts, said Don Horton, park district executive director. "What Rush soccer is looking for is a home," Horton said. They need tohave a place that they can have dependable use, long-term." The club will be using the fields four or five days a week, he said. See Parks/A5

2012

2013

A similar home is purchased in 2008 for $375,000. Its maximum

assessed value is $296,117, sothe tax is based onthe lower value.

ue went up 3 percent, and your tax rate stayed the same, your taxes went up 3 percent annually." He saidthe authors of Measure 50, which passed in May 1997, anticipated nothing but constant appreciation in property values. The 2008 housing bust proved them wrong. The idea of predictable, modest increases, if any, in tax bills was undercut in Deschutes County, where wide fluctuations in property values make for a noticeable effect on tax bills. See Taxes/A5

The Washington Post

plunged, instead keeping with the steady growth associated with

maximumassessedvalue.

$400K $375K Real market

value

350K

$350K $340K

Maximum

$340K ~ 335

assessed

0

~

$350K

•"",,'...54

O~ '

$343K

$323K

300K $200K Taxable 250K

+3%

va/ue 2008

2009

2010

2011

.

By Ylan Q. Mui and Jim Tankersley

maximumassessedvalue.This homeowner'staxesnever

something, if your (assessed) val-

.

offeringhope

BUT WHAT IF YOUR HOME KEPT MORE OF ITS VALUE? But during the recession, the real market value never fell below the

Measure 50 limited taxing districtsto a specific rate rather than a varying levy, Langton explained. "As long as voters didn't vote in any new bonds or local options or

.

Construction jobs rebound,

+1.9% $270K

Once the lease by Oregon Rush Soccer Clubwith the Bend Park 8 Recreation District is f i nalized, fundraising for the fields will start in earnest, club President Ryan Shore said Friday. The club operates developmental

$320K

229%

raxabie va/ue ,3%

be managed.

"

$400K

350K

Before raising the $2 millionplus needed to build four new playing fields — two of which will be artificial — at Pine Nursery Park, a Bend-based soccer club is crafting contracts with park officials to establish a 30-year lease of the land and detail how it will

2012

2013

Source: Deschutes County Assessor Andy Zeigert/The Bulletin

After five years of hemorrhaging jobs, the construction industry has become one of the bright spots of the labor market — a hopeful sign that one of the most damaged sectors of the economy may finally be starting to heal. Overall, the monthlyjobs report, released Friday, showed continued modest growth in December. The economy added 155,000 jobs, on par with the monthly average for 2012 and 2011. The unemployment rate remained at 7.8 percent. But a closer look reveals that nearly one-fifth of the jobs created were in construction, marking only the third time since the recessionended in June 2009 that the industry has added 30,000 workers or more. SeeConstruction /A5

Torturing the truth in 'Zero Dark Thi • An ex-CIAofficial offers afirsthand review

ter and then director of the National Clandestine Service, the

campaign against al-Qaida By Jose A. Rodriguez Jr. Special to The Washington Post

It is an odd experience to enter a darkened room and, for more than 2'/~ hours, watch someone tell a story that you experienced intimately in your own life. That is what

TODAY'S WEATHER Snow possible High 34, Low 22 +© 0o+o@+ oo

Page B6

happened recently as I sat in a movie theater near Times Square and watched "Zero Dark Thirty," the new Hollywood blockbuster about the hunt for Osama bin Laden. When I was head of the CIA's Counterterrorism Cen-

was my life and obsession. I must say, I agree with both the film critics who love "Zero Dark Thirty" as entertainment and the administration officials and prominent senators who hate the movie for the message it sends-

although my reasons are entirely opposite theirs. Despite its flaws, inaccuracies and shortcuts, I do believe this film is well worth seeing. But as I watched the story unfold on the screen, I found myself alternating between repulsion — more on that later — and delight. See 'Zero'/A4

INDEX

The Bulletin

Busines s/Stocks C5-6 Comics/Puzzles E3-4 DearAbby D6 Obituaries B 5 C1-4 Calendar B3 CommunityLife D1-6 Horoscope D6 Sports D6 Classified E 1 - 6Crosswords E4 Lo cal & State B1-6 TV/Movies

Vol. 110, No. 5, 64 pages,

AnIndependent Newspaper

7 sections

Columbia Pictures/The Associated Press

Shrouded in its share of intrigue, the Oscar-buzzworthy film presents itself as a near-true story of what really happened in the manhunt for Osama bin Laden.

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