The county payments/timber payments crisis continues unabated. Josephine County, where a public safety levy failed in May, recently released over 30 county jail inmates and drastically cut sheriff's patrols. Lane County most recently released a report detailing how road projects would be delayed. Curry County is on the verge of going bankrupt, if that were legal in Oregon (it isn't; municipal jurisdictions can't declare bankruptcy in the state).

U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) was in Prineville recently talking about the need to fix the crisis. U.S Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) has a plan AFSCME supports to the extent that Council 75 Executive Director Ken Allen sent a guest opinion article to several Oregon papers detailing the union's agreement. The union, county commissioners and the Association of Oregon Counties have lobbied hand-in-hand several times. It's the one issue, perhaps the only issue, that unites Oregon's Congressional delegation, including Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.), the state's lone GOP presence in Washington, D.C.

So why doesn't anything happen? Alas, this article will provide no answers, but does attempt to help frame the background and partially answer the question, "How did we get here?"

The map graphic attached to this article illustrates a big part of the problem. The federal government owns huge percentages of the lands in western states — which, with the notable exception of California, aren't heavily populated. Lack of population equals less representation in the U.S. House of Representatives, which is where most federal budget issues begin.

For years, rural Oregon counties 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 without their federal lifeline.

While there are many U.S. counties nationwide that shared in the Secure Rural Schools payments, Oregon counties accounted for well over half of the national total paid out. In essence, many lawmakers east of the Mississippi view the program as nothing more than an expensive federal handout, and believe the counties simply need to diversify economically. The Oregon counties would quickly argue that's easier said than done if your boundaries include 50 percent or more federal forestland, property that can never be developed or taxed.

Indeed, with state forestland factored in, 16 of Oregon's 36 counties (see below) have more than 50 percent of their landmass tied up, with Union (48 percent) and Jackson (47 percent) counties not far off. Even Clackamas County, one of the "tris" in the Portland tri-county metropolitan area, includes 45 percent federal/state forestland.

Josephine and Coos are the two counties in the most trouble where AFSCME represents the bulk of county workers. Lane and Hood River are probably the next two in line, although such distinctions are arbitrary. As a result of the traditionally heavy federal subsidy, Josephine County has the dubious distinction of having the lowest property tax rate per thousand in Oregon, at just under 58 cents. Multnomah County residents, in contrast, pay $4.34 per thousand. Citizens of tiny Sherman County, with 1,825 residents and only 831 square miles, pay $8.71.

Oregon counties that include over 50 percent federal and/or state forestland include (alphabetically) Baker, Coos, Crook, Curry, Deschutes, Douglas, Grant, Harney, Hood River, Josephine, Klamath, Lake, Lane, Malheur, Tillamook and Wallowa.

(Editor's note — Attached to this article in PDF format is a chart from the Association of Oregon Counties that shows each county's breakdown of population, landmass, tax rate, miles of roads and the percentage of federal/state forestland.)