18-03-2025
Oregon corporate kicker may go to school maintenance
SALEM, Ore. (KOIN) – In 2023, the Silver Falls School District in Silverton put a bond in front of voters. It failed.
'That bond was going to be used to build a new middle school and do some other really much needed, improvements and upgrades throughout the district,' interim superintendent Kim Kellison told KOIN 6 News. 'Roofing, we have several buildings that need roofing improvements, ADA accessibility improvements, windows. So there's just a lot of deferred maintenance and different upgrades that need to happen for students.'
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Kellison is hopeful House Bill 3360 can get passed this session in the Oregon legislature as she has seen first-hand how districts are left in a tough spot when bonds do not get approved.
'Districts across the state are scrambling to try and, you know, get their budgets adjusted,' she said. 'We really don't have a ton of room in our budget for deferred maintenance and, capital improvements. We are trying to set aside align this year for capital improvements in case we can't pass a bond. But that's really difficult.'
A public hearing on HB 3360 was held in Salem Monday to discuss the bill that proposes redirecting the corporate kicker from the state's general fund for public education and instead using it to fund construction and maintenance grants for school districts that have not been able to get bonds approved.
Bonds help schools complete necessary, expensive projects, but often get voted down. The Oregon School Board Association said only about half of district and community college grants have been passed in the last four years.
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Now lawmakers are considering redirecting the corporate kicker to give districts with unfinished projects a chance to secure the funding to get them done. This would only be available for districts that submitted general obligation bonds during the last three years, have not gotten voter approval for general obligation bonds in the last 10 years, and reserves of less than 8% of its budget.
Right now the corporate kicker is going to the state school fund which keeps schools running as they are. But if the kicker was to go towards these infrastructure projects, the state would still have to make sure the state fund is meeting the current service level.
Bill sponsor Representative Zach Hudson said it is not that voters are against improving schools, they just cannot always afford to pay for it themselves. He said if the corporate kicker was dedicated to infrastructure, they would not have to pay.
'So many schools around Oregon have infrastructure needs, have a leaking roof have mold in the walls or lead in the water, or they're not earthquake safe, and they would literally come down in a quake,' he said.
Hudson said he is confident the bill will get passed because it has bipartisan support.
'We can make sure that this money, which is supposed to go to education, really goes to the districts who need it most,' he said.
Hudson said if the corporate kicker can be put towards infrastructure, then it will go to education like voters wanted but voters will not have to pay for the improvements.
'I don't think any voter would say no, I don't want the school to replace their HVAC system or replace their boiler,' he said. 'I think they're saying, no, I just can't afford this this year.'
There are two other kicker bills being proposed. A Senate bill says the state should go back to mailing checks instead of offering a credit, and another is proposing to get rid of the kicker altogether. Neither are scheduled for a public hearing.
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