Coos County Surviving With Money From Own Timber Lands

One of the Oregon timber counties facing a cutoff of federal money is dipping into a savings account built from its own logging receipts and expects to avoid big reductions and tax increases in the next budget.

     The World in Coos Bay reported Tuesday (http://bit.ly/NewoJm ) that Coos County plans to spend about $101 million in the year that starts in July.

     Of that, $5.4 million is coming from savings the county has been accumulating in anticipation of the fiscal trouble now plaguing Oregon counties traditionally dependent on federal timber receipts.

     The money comes from sales from county forestland. Commissioners hope to stretch the "forestry fund" to maintain services at current levels for two to three more years.

     After that, they still face finding a way to replace the federal payments.