GRANTS PASS — There's no way to sugarcoat this: times are desperate for Josephine County and its employees, many of whom are members of Oregon AFSCME Local 3694.

Josephine County — "JoCo" to the locals — is quickly becoming the poster child for the federal timber payments conundrum/crisis. Over 50 percent of the county's landmass consists of federal forestland, meaning it won't ever be developed or taxed. For years, JoCo and rural Oregon counties like it depended heavily on their share of federal timber receipts to fund a large portion of county government. Changes in economics and environmental rules have curtailed logging as much as 90 percent. Since 2000, the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act provided "county payments" in lieu of the actual timber receipts, but in recent years Congress has been reluctant to reauthorize the act, consistently passing it in the 11^th hour while reducing the payment amounts.

The current Congress did not re-up the Secure Rural Schools plan, leaving many counties such as Josephine without their federal lifeline. At 58 cents per thousand, JoCo has the lowest property tax rate of Oregon's 36 counties. 

A public safety levy of $2 per thousand failed 57 to 43 percent on May 15, leaving the county in dire straits. The exigent times add stress for Local 3694, which has had its share of ups and downs — mostly downs — since 2006. The local went on strike that year for four days. The county retaliated by contracting out over 100 county mental health positions. While the union "won" that case over several years of litigation, those positions ultimately stayed in the private sector, knocking the local's membership down from over 300 to a current total of around 185. The workers are now bracing for layoffs totaling at least 30 positions, possibly more.

"People here are shocked," says Council 75 Staff Representative Rodney McCambridge. "They never really thought it would come to this. We worked hard on the levy election and believed it had a chance of passing. This is a real blow."

The levy's failure means a direct hit of 17 positions for Local 3694 members in the county's juvenile detention center, which will be downsized to only three beds. Other county money will be shifted, translating into additional layoffs.

"The county will take $425,000 from what has been a dedicated road and public works fund, but even that is a mixed blessing," says McCambridge. "While that will have some short-term benefits to the overall county budget, it also means that money won't be available for road and/or bridge repair — and ultimately, to cover salaries of public works employees, who are part of our bargaining unit."

McCambridge says many of those to be laid off have 12 or more years of service with the county.

"These are people who were expecting to retire as county employees," he said. "There's a pall of gloom hanging everywhere right now. People want to be angry, but they're not sure who to be angry with. From a local union standpoint, myself, the president and the executive board — we're just trying to hold on and see who's left after all of the layoffs and bumping are completed. This is a very difficult situation."

While the current county commissioners have indicated they're not inclined to attempt another levy in the fall, McCambridge says a second vote may come via citizen initiative.

"If anything good has come out of this, more people — our members and others — have learned the importance of participation in local elections," he said. "There's a group here that wants to make another run in November, and we will certainly be part of that process."

There is also a glimmer of hope that Congress could yet step in and make some allocation. A partial reauthorization of the Rural Schools Act almost occurred within the past month. Additionally, U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), who represents Oregon's Fourth District that includes most of Josephine County, is pushing an alternate funding plan for rural forestland counties that has AFSCME's support. Attached to this article is a guest opinion piece from Oregon AFSCME Executive Director Ken Allen that has appeared in several Oregon newspapers touting and supporting the DeFazio plan.