It’s Back to School in Small Oregon Town: Tax Voted

Parents of schoolchildren celebrated today after voters narrowly approved a $4.3-million tax levy, clearing the way for their school’s reopening next week. The district school has been closed since Dec. 5 for lack of funds.

Unofficial returns Tuesday night showed that the property tax was approved by a vote of 2,202 to 1,995.

“I’m real ecstatic that it finally did get resolved,” said William Shields, Estacada school board chairman. “I think the kids put a lot of effort into getting people out to vote and getting people aware.”

Schools in the district 20 miles southeast of Portland are scheduled to reopen for the staff Monday and for the 2,200 students Tuesday.

Closed Previously

Officials closed the schools after the defeat of a $4.4-million tax by a 122-vote margin Dec. 2, the fifth money measure rejected by district voters this year. The district closed for similar reasons for 11 days in 1981.

Shields said the board’s next big battle will be to try to persuade the Legislature to improve its method of funding schools.

The dispute over operation of the schools divided the community and spurred action by students upset about the closing.

“We feel great right now,” said Sarah Bagg, student body president at Estacada High School and a leader of a voter registration drive. “We can’t believe it. We were sitting here the last half an hour terrified.”

Property Tax Problem

Opponents of the increase said that property taxes were too high and that the school board had overspent. Supporters said the board had trimmed the budget to the minimum necessary to ensure a quality education.

Oregon schools depend heavily on local property taxes, but many districts have not raised their property tax rates in decades and are often forced to ask voters for supplemental one-year levies to balance their budgets.

Some local school officials want the Legislature to increase the state’s share of funding for education and to shift the burden from local property taxes to some other forms of revenue. (Oregon has no sales tax.)