Eighteen Western Oregon counties will soon receive $2 million in federal timber payments that had been held up under the sequester law aimed at cutting federal spending, officials learned Thursday.
Douglas County Commissioner Doug Robertson, who chairs the Association of O&C Counties said he was notified that the money will be coming to the counties in the next few days from the Department of Interior.
The department at the beginning of the year distributed $36 million to 18 counties containing lands that were part of the defunct Oregon & California Railroad, as well as old Coos Bay Wagon Road lands. At the same time, the department held back about $4 million, representing a 10 percent cut in anticipation that the sequester would soon take effect.
The department told the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee in March that it recognized that it had calculated that it only needed to reduce the payment by about 5 percent and could give the counties another $2 million.
The department was slow to turn over the $2 million, however, and Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, both D-Oregon, introduced an amendment to the Farm Bill ordering the department to turn over the money.
From Oregon Live: https://www.oregonlive.com/mapes/index.ssf/2013/05/oregon_counties_to_receive_2_m.html