I had the pleasure of representing CSMFO at the Oregon Government Finance Officers’ Spring Annual Conference from March 2-4 in Seaside, Oregon. Several hundred municipal officers and commercial partners from across Oregon attended the event to hear educational updates very similar to our conference. Some interesting information that I heard is outlined below:

• Oregon Surplus Revenue or “The Kicker”- in 1979 the Oregon Legislative Assembly passed the “two percent kicker” law as a way to control state spending. Actual revenues for the biennium ending on the odd-numbered years are compared to the estimated revenues for the same period, and if the actual revenues exceed the forecast by more than 2 percent, the revenue surplus is refunded to taxpayers.'
• Creative destruction - a term that refers to the quick deployment of resources in advance of new technology that, consequently, does not have enough or fast enough adoption, resulting in loss and bankruptcies - used in reference to fiber optics in the early 2000s.
• Oregon has a Municipal Audit Law which requires all local governments, including counties, cities, school districts and educational service districts, many special districts, and municipal corporations, to register with the Secretary of State, Audits Division, and utilize them as the primary external auditor.
• Public employers in Oregon are required to offer health insurance coverage to retirees until they become eligible for federal Medicare, for the spouse of a retired employee until the spouse becomes eligible for federal Medicare, and for a child until the child arrives at majority.
• Some fun new acronyms - SALY=same as last year, and WALY=wrong as last year