10 April 2014
City Wrangling With How To Collect Missed Assessments
Florence City Councilors voted this week to take their chances with getting at least a partial repayment of delinquent street and utility assessments on a parcel of land in the north end of town. The tract, owned by Glenn and Ellona Seifert is part of the North Florence Local Improvement District in which the city fronted about $1.5-million for the improvements in 2006… just before the Great Recession.
The question they dealt with Monday night was whether or not to pay $74-thousand in delinquent property taxes for the Seifert property to keep it out of foreclosure and try to maintain the city’s lein on the property.
The City’s legal counsel advised that paying the back-taxes would not help the city recoup the more than $800-thousand the Seiferts owe the city.
Counsel said the city would be better off to let the foreclosure proceed and hope that Lane County can sell the property for enough to allow at least a partial repayment.
Councilor Joe Henry said the city should at least budget for the tax payment and keep their options open. He was in the minority, though with the council voting 3-1 to skip the payment.
More information on the history of the North Florence LID and the Seifert Property question can be found in the packet for the April 7th City Council Meeting.
Sledgehammer Attack Spurs Charges
Coos County Sheriff’s Deputies arrested a Lakeside man this week after he was accused of striking his girlfriend with a sledgehammer.
Deputies say the girlfriend of 43-year old Jeffery K. Waight reported the attack occurred during an argument. She had called 911 to report the fight and the call was disconnected shortly before deputies arrived.
Waight has been charged with unlawful use of a weapon, domestic assault, domestic menacing and interfering with 911.
Tax Day Nearing
The Oregon Department of Revenue says there are still about a half-million people who have not filed their personal income taxes.
Megan Denison, the policy and systems manager for the Department, says they estimate about 470-thousand returns will be processed between now and next Tuesday.
That’s nearly a third of the returns they’ll wind up processing she said. Already they’ve received and processed about one-million personal returns.
More and more people are turning to online processing. 92-percent of the returns so far this year have been e-filed.
Karen Lyn Remembered
Funeral services for the former long-time director of Florence Food Share have been scheduled for Saturday.
Karen Lyn passed away Sunday at the age of 62 after a battle with leukemia.
Long time Food Share board member Bonnie MacDuffie was also a longtime friend.
Bonnie MacDuffie – “She just gave her whole heart and soul to Food Share. We’re definitely going to miss her, but a lot of people have some wonderful, wonderful memories.”
Under Lyn’s leadership, operations at the emergency food pantry expanded and changed. One of those changes was a switch to a “shopping style” pantry where clients could choose items that fit their taste and preferences. Lyn said that cut down on waste.
Services will be Saturday afternoon, two o’clock, at Florence Christian Church.
