By JOEL ASCHBRENNER

H&N Staff Reporter

October 5, 2010

   Klamath County would receive more than $3 million from the state if the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement is implemented.

   The agreement stipulates the county be paid $3.4 million over the next 20 years to compensate for lost property tax revenue.

   The KBRA seeks to resolve water issues in the Klamath River Basin for irrigators, fisheries, environmentalists and the Klamath Tribes. It also advocates removal of four hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River.

   Klamath County voters will face a ballot measure in November asking whether they want the Klamath County Board of Commissioners to continue participating in the KBRA. The outcome of the advisory measure, which aims to gauge public opinion, will not be legally binding.  

   Klamath County stands to lose property tax revenue because irrigators will annually voluntarily surrender 30,000 acre-feet of irrigation water from Upper Klamath Lake as part of the agreement, said County Commissioner John Elliott. Less water means less valuable land, which means less tax revenue for the county.

   The money from the state would be added to Klamath County’s tax roll, meaning it will be split between the county, other taxing districts and schools.     

   Since Klamath County keeps about 14 percent of the property taxes collected, the additional funding would represent a less than 1 percent increase to the county’s general fund. Voters should care because it represents a funding increase — though a small one — while most county revenue is declining.

   The KBRA also would provide $500,000 for economic development related to fisheries in Klamath and Lake counties, where the Klamath Rivers’ headwaters begin.