Page 13 - Flathead Beacon // 2.4.15

FLATHEADBEACON.COM NEWS FEBRUARY 4, 2015 | 13 With SRS Funding in Limbo,
Lincoln County’s budget could take massive hit if Congress fails to reauthorize Secure Rural Schools program
By JUSTIN FRANZ of the Beacon
Local governments in Northwest Montana and across the West are brac- ing for big budget cuts after Congress failed to reauthorize a federal timber payments program that is critical to ru- ral communities.
On Jan. 15, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that the U.S. Forest Service would be paying more than $50 million in timber payments to 41 states and Puerto Rico after Congress failed to reauthorize the Secure Ru- ral Schools program late last year. The money, paid under the Twenty-Five Per- cent Act of 1908, is considerably smaller than the $300 million the SRS provided governments in 2014.
“There is no question about it: This is going to be a big hit on our budget,” Lin- coln County Commissioner Mike Cole said.
The cuts mean Montana, which re- ceived more than $21 million from SRS in 2014, will get about $2 million this year. In Lincoln County that means about $313,000 compared to the $2.75 million it received last year.
The Twenty-Five Percent Act of 1908 was created so counties like Lin- coln, where 72 percent of the land is un- der federal control, can maintain their roads and schools without benefitting from property taxes. The payments in- cluded 25 percent of the gross receipts from timber sales, leases and rentals on the national forest.
As timber sales began to decline, Congress created the SRS program in
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Rural Communities on Edge
Thomas Lawrence Veloz was shot and killed on Feb. 1, according to the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office
By JUSTIN FRANZ of the Beacon
Two people are in custody after a Libby man was shot and killed at a resi- dence on Feb. 1, according to the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office.
Henry Carl Schroeder, 74, has been charged with negligent homicide and tampering and Kimberlee Ann Patter- son, 43, has been charged with tam- pering following the shooting death of Thomas Lawrence Veloz, 38, of Libby. Both crimes are felonies.
According to law enforcement au- thorities, at about 3:30 p.m., an individ- ual came into the sheriff’s office and re- ported that a shooting occurred at 1305 Washington Avenue. Sheriff’s deputies and officers from the Libby Police De- partment responded to the scene and called the home’s owner, Schroeder, de- manding that he come outside. Once
Schroeder exited, officers entered the home and found Veloz’s body, a .380 cali- ber pistol, empty casings and bullets. Ve- loz was declared dead at the scene.
Schroeder was arrested at the house and Patterson was later arrested at the sheriff’s office. Veloz’s body was trans- ported to the Montana State Crime Lab for an autopsy.
Both the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office and the Libby Police Department are investigating the incident.
Anyone who may have information about it are asked to call the sheriff’s of- fice at (406) 293-4112.
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Sunset over Lake Koocanusa. BEACON FILE PHOTO
2000 that paid counties an annual av- erage of the three highest payments be- tween 1986 and 1999. In 2001, it paid out more than $448 million. However, payments have shrunk along with gov- ernment budgets and in 2013 that num- ber had fallen to $295 million. In recent years, the SRS program has been reau- thorized annually, leaving rural gov- ernments in limbo. Because Lincoln County commissioners were unsure if they would even receive SRS funding this year, they did not include it in the 2015 budget. Instead, road maintenance will be funded by the county’s reserves. Commissioner Greg Larson, who repre- sents Troy, said the road department has enough in reserves to last a few years, but maintained that is not a longterm solution.
“If something does not change in Washington, D.C. then we are going to be in a very serious situation,” Larson said.
Both Sens. Jon Tester, D-Mont., and Steve Daines, R-Mont., say they hope Congress would reauthorize the SRS funds in the coming weeks.
“We’ve got to keep pushing people to
get this reauthorized,” Daines said. “The Secure Rural Schools program provides critical resources to Montana’s rural communities and we’ve got to make sure that communities like Lincoln County get the support they need.”
He added that the best way to help rural communities is to lift regulations and get loggers and miners back to work.
Flathead County will also be im- pacted by dwindling SRS funds. In 2013, Flathead County received more than $1.6 million from the program. County administrator Mike Pence said the SRS funding makes up about one-eighth of the road budget.
Local, state and federal officials agree that simply reauthorizing the pro- gram every year is not a longterm solu- tion.
“The bottom line is I think the Se- cure Rural Schools program will get re- authorized, as it has in the past,” Tester said. “And if someone puts up a good longterm solution I would probably vote for it, but I don’t think that’s going to happen in the next year or two.”
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Two Arrested Following Fatal Shooting in Libby
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