A Steady Trek In The Right Direction
By Scott R. Cooper, Crook County Judge
This column was originally published in the Central Oregonian, November 2005
What if you lived in a community where unemployment was sitting at the lowest level seen in 15 years?
What if you lived in a community where the value of your property experienced an increase of 50 percent in just three years?
What if you lived in a community where deposits into local banks jumped 25 percent in just 12 months?
What if you lived in Crook County, Oregon?
The economic news of the last few weeks has seldom been more positive. And don’t take my word for it.
Unemployment for the month of September was calculated at 5.8 percent, compared to an Oregon-wide average of 6.1 percent. The Oregon Employment Department, which publishes unemployment statistics on its website dating back to 1990, identifies that as an all-time low for the month of September. (The high was 9.5 percent in 1996 and the previous low was 5.9 percent in 1990.)
Property values? The Multiple Listing Service reporting in The Bulletin, compared median home prices between January and September of each year from 2001 through 2005. (The median is the point where half the sales were more and half the sales were less.) At the end of September 2005, the median price settled at $147,000—up 29.5 percent over the prior-year level. As recently as September 2002, the median was only $98,000, a change of 50 percent in just 36 months. No other community of Central Oregon experienced such a rapid run up of prices, yet the median price of a Crook County home is still well below that of other Central Oregon communities, which ought to give some comfort to those who fear that housing is at risk of becoming unaffordable.
As for bank deposits, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation tracks those. By looking at deposits on June 30 of each year, the FDIC is able to evaluate the health of the financial institutions on which the country and individual states and communities depend. In doing so, it also provides an annual snapshot of the economic health of our community, since most people and businesses presumably keep their money in banks and not the sock drawer! The FDIC data show that deposits into Crook County financial institutions as of June 30, 2005, were $210 million. That’s up from $167 million one year prior in 2004, and it represents a whopping 25.7 percent in a single year. By comparison, deposits statewide grew only 8.0 percent. Deposits in Deschutes County were up 17.6 percent, and deposits in Jefferson County were up 7. 8 percent.
Even poverty seems to have taken somewhat of a break in our community in the past year. The Oregon Department of Human Services annually issues a report on food stamp utilization at the county level. The current report, for the year 2004, reveals that an estimated 686 people eligible for food stamps did not receive assistance. That number is actually down from 2003, when an estimated 922 people did not receive assistance. The participation rate—the percentage of households eligible who actually participated—rose in 2004 to 80 percent from 73 percent just one year earlier. Combined, those numbers are a clear indication that the community is doing a better job of helping those who need help most.
I think statistics such as these are an indication that something is going our way—finally—in Crook County. Despite increasing numbers of people who require jobs, unemployment is falling. Despite the persistence of economic malaise at the national and state levels, property values and personal wealth are on the upswing locally. Notwithstanding government policies which allegedly leave the rich, richer and the poor, poorer, Crook County’s underprivileged population appears to be shrinking and is being better served today than in the past.
With the approach of Thanksgiving, I can’t help but think that we have much for which to be grateful in this county.
In celebrating success, I don’t mean to suggest we don’t have problems as well. Despite gains in the number of locally available employment options, we are still dangerously dependent on a handful of large employers, the departure of any one of which would be disastrous. Despite the relative prosperity of our community, our economic health is not divorced from that of the region, state and nation. A calamity that befalls one befalls all. While our numbers are going in the right direction, many of our neighbors still need help securing adequate shelter, adequate food and adequate employment.
I doubt there will ever come a day when these problems won’t exist. After all, they have been with societies and communities since the beginning of time. Perfection isn’t the goal, because it can’t be achieved. What is important is to make steady progress.
This year’s numbers suggest the residents of Crook County are doing just that.
This column was originally published in the Central Oregonian, November 2005
Little Numbers Suggest Big Things Are Underway
What if you lived in a community where unemployment was sitting at the lowest level seen in 15 years?
What if you lived in a community where the value of your property experienced an increase of 50 percent in just three years?
What if you lived in a community where deposits into local banks jumped 25 percent in just 12 months?
What if you lived in Crook County, Oregon?
The economic news of the last few weeks has seldom been more positive. And don’t take my word for it.
Unemployment for the month of September was calculated at 5.8 percent, compared to an Oregon-wide average of 6.1 percent. The Oregon Employment Department, which publishes unemployment statistics on its website dating back to 1990, identifies that as an all-time low for the month of September. (The high was 9.5 percent in 1996 and the previous low was 5.9 percent in 1990.)
Property values? The Multiple Listing Service reporting in The Bulletin, compared median home prices between January and September of each year from 2001 through 2005. (The median is the point where half the sales were more and half the sales were less.) At the end of September 2005, the median price settled at $147,000—up 29.5 percent over the prior-year level. As recently as September 2002, the median was only $98,000, a change of 50 percent in just 36 months. No other community of Central Oregon experienced such a rapid run up of prices, yet the median price of a Crook County home is still well below that of other Central Oregon communities, which ought to give some comfort to those who fear that housing is at risk of becoming unaffordable.
As for bank deposits, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation tracks those. By looking at deposits on June 30 of each year, the FDIC is able to evaluate the health of the financial institutions on which the country and individual states and communities depend. In doing so, it also provides an annual snapshot of the economic health of our community, since most people and businesses presumably keep their money in banks and not the sock drawer! The FDIC data show that deposits into Crook County financial institutions as of June 30, 2005, were $210 million. That’s up from $167 million one year prior in 2004, and it represents a whopping 25.7 percent in a single year. By comparison, deposits statewide grew only 8.0 percent. Deposits in Deschutes County were up 17.6 percent, and deposits in Jefferson County were up 7. 8 percent.
Even poverty seems to have taken somewhat of a break in our community in the past year. The Oregon Department of Human Services annually issues a report on food stamp utilization at the county level. The current report, for the year 2004, reveals that an estimated 686 people eligible for food stamps did not receive assistance. That number is actually down from 2003, when an estimated 922 people did not receive assistance. The participation rate—the percentage of households eligible who actually participated—rose in 2004 to 80 percent from 73 percent just one year earlier. Combined, those numbers are a clear indication that the community is doing a better job of helping those who need help most.
I think statistics such as these are an indication that something is going our way—finally—in Crook County. Despite increasing numbers of people who require jobs, unemployment is falling. Despite the persistence of economic malaise at the national and state levels, property values and personal wealth are on the upswing locally. Notwithstanding government policies which allegedly leave the rich, richer and the poor, poorer, Crook County’s underprivileged population appears to be shrinking and is being better served today than in the past.
With the approach of Thanksgiving, I can’t help but think that we have much for which to be grateful in this county.
In celebrating success, I don’t mean to suggest we don’t have problems as well. Despite gains in the number of locally available employment options, we are still dangerously dependent on a handful of large employers, the departure of any one of which would be disastrous. Despite the relative prosperity of our community, our economic health is not divorced from that of the region, state and nation. A calamity that befalls one befalls all. While our numbers are going in the right direction, many of our neighbors still need help securing adequate shelter, adequate food and adequate employment.
I doubt there will ever come a day when these problems won’t exist. After all, they have been with societies and communities since the beginning of time. Perfection isn’t the goal, because it can’t be achieved. What is important is to make steady progress.
This year’s numbers suggest the residents of Crook County are doing just that.
posted by Scott Cooper | 9:52 PM
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