I would like to comment on the SDC article of Oct. 6 as I was the one that went before the county board of commissioners and complained, as Tony DeBone explains to the reporter. First, it is anything but an "interest free loan" as stated by the reporter since it is paid by the homeowner after the certificate of occupancy. How can the homeowner's own money be considered a loan before payment is due?
This particular SDC came about in 2008 after the drop in new home construction created a shortfall in the road fund. The commissioner's knee jerk reaction was to fine new construction an additional $3000.
I had my new home built in 2010, in the depths of this depression. I hired and employed carpenters, an engineer, architect, electrical contractor, plumber, roofer, painters, heating contractors, (bought) trusses made locally, tons of concrete, truck drivers, windows made locally at Jeld-Wen, custom cut wood from a local saw mill, etc. Hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars, all of it spent right here in central Oregon at a time when I could have bought a bank-owned home at less than the cost of materials, and the dollars would have left town to help balance the books at a mega bank somewhere in New York City. After I spent all my money on my own Bend stimulas project at $1000 a day every day for over a year, THE LAST "thanks" I get is from the county for an additional $3000.The reporter says that none of us likes to pay taxes, but most of us like roads and fresh water. True
Including me! So, seeing as there is a budget shortfall of $3 million why don't we all pitch in. If Bend has a population of 80,000, lets figure 30,000 tax lots, a $100 road tax brings in $3 million in one year. Do you like your roads as much as I do? If everyone did what I did in the last year, Bend would be the most prosperous city on the planet. Maybe people who pour money into a moribund local economy should get a tax BREAK, and NOT taxed, such an incentive would help us all...including roads.
- Dean Borys
