Bull Mountain, Oregon
Encyclopedia
Bull Mountain, Oregon is an unincorporated
community
and census-designated place
in Washington County
, Oregon
, United States
. Bull Mountain is located mostly on a hill for which the community is named. It is bordered on the east by Tigard
, on the south by King City
, and Beaverton
lies to the north. The north-eastern part of the Bull Mountain hill is now within the Tigard city limits, as the city has steadily annexed portions of the unincorporated region on its boundary. In 2010, the community became a census-designated place with a population of 9,133.
by the City of Tigard, which includes Bull Mountain in its ultimate planned boundary. The debate over Bull Mountain's future has been rather acrimonious.
In 2004, Tigard proposed to annex the entire area under Oregon Revised Statutes
Or. Rev. Stat. § 195.205 (2005) (Urban Service Provider Annexation method) instead of Or. Rev. Stat. § 222.125 (2005) method. At the time, Or. Rev. Stat. § 195.205 was ambiguous regarding the method of counting votes, and Tigard had planned to use a single combined voting method where the unincorporated votes would be counted with the votes of the city voters, and thus the unincorporated voters would be heavily outnumbered. This variation of gerrymandering
outraged
many of the residents of the unincorporated area, and triggered a campaign against the annexation. A group called "Friends of Bull Mountain" (FOBM) was then formed. The group retained legal counsel Larry Derr and challenged the combined voting method under the provisions of Or. Rev. Stat. § 268 (2005) requiring separate double majority vote counting for annexations within the Portland Metro
Urban Growth Boundary
.
In the face of this legal challenge Tigard relented and allowed the double majority vote counting method. As a result, the annexation measure [34-98] failed, a majority of city voters (64.71%) favored the annexation, but 88.62% of unincorporated voters rejected the annexation.
As is common in such annexation disputes, a key issue was taxes; many Bull Mountain residents thought that annexation with Tigard would increase their property tax
es without a significant increase in public services, and that Tigard was only interested in annexation to expand its tax base. They also felt the ORS-195 combined voting method was "taxation without representation". Some residents of Tigard have complained in response that Bull Mountain residents use Tigard city parks and other services without paying for them.
However, Washington County has been actively encouraging suburban parts of the county to join cities, in order to limit the need for county-provided urban-level services. After the defeat of the referendum, Tigard has been examining small annexations on a case-by-case basis.
Many residents advocated incorporation in order to allow Bull Mountain residents to control their own destiny (and avoid further annexation by Tigard), in spring of 2006 a petition for a ballot measure was filed.
The Washington County Board of Commissioners voted in August 2006 to allow the incorporation ballot initiative to proceed. A feasibility study was conducted by ECONorthwest and it was determined that Bull Mountain has a sufficient tax base to fund city government and services for its residents. The City of Tigard protested the city boundaries, noting that Tigard-owned properties were included in the proposed City of Bull Mountain, and asked that Washington County adjust the boundaries. That request was denied. Tigard also filed a request to annex 61.5 acres (248,881.9 m²) which are part of the proposed Bull Mountain boundaries. Many in Bull Mountain complained that Tigard's annexation attempt is little more than an 11th-hour attempt to acquire a large segment of land without due respect for the incorporation process and proposed incorporation boundary. The effort was challenged legally in the Washington County courts. This legal challenge was rejected by the state Land Use Board of Appeals: “the city had not unlawfully obtained consent to the annexation,” and the petition for appeal was dismissed by the Oregon Court of Appeals
. Friends of Bull Mountain v. City of Tigard, 208 Or.App. 189, 144 P.3d 965 (2006).
The referendum on the incorporation question was on the November 2006 ballot and failed by a vote of 1,734 to 1,887.
community organization in the U.S. state
of Oregon
acting as local advocates for meaningful citizen involvement and responsible land use planning in keeping with the vision of the Bull Mountain Community Plan. The FOBM group played a key role in defeating the attempt by city of Tigard
to annex Bull Mountain.
After the 2004 annexation defeat, FOBM worked closely with Oregon House
Representative Jerry Krummel
who successfully introduced legislation based on ideas and testimony provided by FOBM. Notable changes in the 2005 legislature included House Bill 2484 which codified double-majority vote for all "Service Provider" annexations under ORS-195. Also, HB-2477 eliminated the three-mile (5 km) veto which allowed cities to prevent incorporation of a new city within three miles (5 km). The enactment of HB-2477 allowed the Bull Mountain community to attempt incorporation.
Unincorporated area
In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...
community
Community
The term community has two distinct meanings:*a group of interacting people, possibly living in close proximity, and often refers to a group that shares some common values, and is attributed with social cohesion within a shared geographical location, generally in social units larger than a household...
and census-designated place
Census-designated place
A census-designated place is a concentration of population identified by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes. CDPs are delineated for each decennial census as the statistical counterparts of incorporated places such as cities, towns and villages...
in Washington County
Washington County, Oregon
- Major highways :* Interstate 5* Interstate 205* U.S. Route 26* Oregon Route 6* Oregon Route 8* Oregon Route 10* Oregon Route 47* Oregon Route 99W* Oregon Route 210* Oregon Route 217* Oregon Route 219-Demographics:...
, Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Bull Mountain is located mostly on a hill for which the community is named. It is bordered on the east by Tigard
Tigard, Oregon
Tigard is a city in Washington County, Oregon, United States. The population was 48,035 at the 2010 census. As of 2007, Tigard was the state's 12th largest city. Incorporated in 1961, the city is located south of Beaverton and north of Tualatin, and is part of the Portland metropolitan area...
, on the south by King City
King City, Oregon
King City is a city in Washington County, Oregon, United States. Its name was picked arbitrarily by the Tualatin Development Company, Inc., which used a royalty theme in naming the city streets. The population was 1,949 at the 2000 census. The 2006 estimate was 2,350 residents.- History:Created as...
, and Beaverton
Beaverton, Oregon
Beaverton is a city in Washington County, Oregon, United States, seven miles west of Portland in the Tualatin River Valley.As of the 2010 census, the population is 90,267. This makes it the second-largest city in the county and Oregon's sixth-largest city...
lies to the north. The north-eastern part of the Bull Mountain hill is now within the Tigard city limits, as the city has steadily annexed portions of the unincorporated region on its boundary. In 2010, the community became a census-designated place with a population of 9,133.
Annexation and incorporation controversy
The Bull Mountain area has been considered candidate for annexationAnnexation
Annexation is the de jure incorporation of some territory into another geo-political entity . Usually, it is implied that the territory and population being annexed is the smaller, more peripheral, and weaker of the two merging entities, barring physical size...
by the City of Tigard, which includes Bull Mountain in its ultimate planned boundary. The debate over Bull Mountain's future has been rather acrimonious.
In 2004, Tigard proposed to annex the entire area under Oregon Revised Statutes
Oregon Revised Statutes
The Oregon Revised Statutes is the codified body of statutory law governing the U.S. state of Oregon, as enacted by the Oregon Legislative Assembly, and occasionally by citizen initiative...
Or. Rev. Stat. § 195.205 (2005) (Urban Service Provider Annexation method) instead of Or. Rev. Stat. § 222.125 (2005) method. At the time, Or. Rev. Stat. § 195.205 was ambiguous regarding the method of counting votes, and Tigard had planned to use a single combined voting method where the unincorporated votes would be counted with the votes of the city voters, and thus the unincorporated voters would be heavily outnumbered. This variation of gerrymandering
Gerrymandering
In the process of setting electoral districts, gerrymandering is a practice that attempts to establish a political advantage for a particular party or group by manipulating geographic boundaries to create partisan, incumbent-protected districts...
outraged
many of the residents of the unincorporated area, and triggered a campaign against the annexation. A group called "Friends of Bull Mountain" (FOBM) was then formed. The group retained legal counsel Larry Derr and challenged the combined voting method under the provisions of Or. Rev. Stat. § 268 (2005) requiring separate double majority vote counting for annexations within the Portland Metro
Metro (Oregon regional government)
Metro, formerly known as Metropolitan Service District, is the regional governmental agency for the Oregon portion of the Portland metropolitan area...
Urban Growth Boundary
Urban growth boundary
An urban growth boundary, or UGB, is a regional boundary, set in an attempt to control urban sprawl by mandating that the area inside the boundary be used for higher density urban development and the area outside be used for lower density development.An urban growth boundary circumscribes an...
.
In the face of this legal challenge Tigard relented and allowed the double majority vote counting method. As a result, the annexation measure [34-98] failed, a majority of city voters (64.71%) favored the annexation, but 88.62% of unincorporated voters rejected the annexation.
As is common in such annexation disputes, a key issue was taxes; many Bull Mountain residents thought that annexation with Tigard would increase their property tax
Property tax
A property tax is an ad valorem levy on the value of property that the owner is required to pay. The tax is levied by the governing authority of the jurisdiction in which the property is located; it may be paid to a national government, a federated state or a municipality...
es without a significant increase in public services, and that Tigard was only interested in annexation to expand its tax base. They also felt the ORS-195 combined voting method was "taxation without representation". Some residents of Tigard have complained in response that Bull Mountain residents use Tigard city parks and other services without paying for them.
However, Washington County has been actively encouraging suburban parts of the county to join cities, in order to limit the need for county-provided urban-level services. After the defeat of the referendum, Tigard has been examining small annexations on a case-by-case basis.
Many residents advocated incorporation in order to allow Bull Mountain residents to control their own destiny (and avoid further annexation by Tigard), in spring of 2006 a petition for a ballot measure was filed.
The Washington County Board of Commissioners voted in August 2006 to allow the incorporation ballot initiative to proceed. A feasibility study was conducted by ECONorthwest and it was determined that Bull Mountain has a sufficient tax base to fund city government and services for its residents. The City of Tigard protested the city boundaries, noting that Tigard-owned properties were included in the proposed City of Bull Mountain, and asked that Washington County adjust the boundaries. That request was denied. Tigard also filed a request to annex 61.5 acres (248,881.9 m²) which are part of the proposed Bull Mountain boundaries. Many in Bull Mountain complained that Tigard's annexation attempt is little more than an 11th-hour attempt to acquire a large segment of land without due respect for the incorporation process and proposed incorporation boundary. The effort was challenged legally in the Washington County courts. This legal challenge was rejected by the state Land Use Board of Appeals: “the city had not unlawfully obtained consent to the annexation,” and the petition for appeal was dismissed by the Oregon Court of Appeals
Oregon Court of Appeals
The Oregon Court of Appeals is the state intermediate appellate court in the U.S. state of Oregon. Part of the Oregon Judicial Department, it has ten judges and is located in Salem...
. Friends of Bull Mountain v. City of Tigard, 208 Or.App. 189, 144 P.3d 965 (2006).
The referendum on the incorporation question was on the November 2006 ballot and failed by a vote of 1,734 to 1,887.
Friends of Bull Mountain
The Friends of Bull Mountain (FOBM) is a grassrootsGrassroots
A grassroots movement is one driven by the politics of a community. The term implies that the creation of the movement and the group supporting it are natural and spontaneous, highlighting the differences between this and a movement that is orchestrated by traditional power structures...
community organization in the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
acting as local advocates for meaningful citizen involvement and responsible land use planning in keeping with the vision of the Bull Mountain Community Plan. The FOBM group played a key role in defeating the attempt by city of Tigard
Tigard, Oregon
Tigard is a city in Washington County, Oregon, United States. The population was 48,035 at the 2010 census. As of 2007, Tigard was the state's 12th largest city. Incorporated in 1961, the city is located south of Beaverton and north of Tualatin, and is part of the Portland metropolitan area...
to annex Bull Mountain.
After the 2004 annexation defeat, FOBM worked closely with Oregon House
Oregon House of Representatives
The Oregon House of Representatives is the lower house of the Oregon Legislative Assembly. There are 60 members of the House, representing 60 districts across the state, each with a population of 57,000. The House meets at the Oregon State Capitol in Salem....
Representative Jerry Krummel
Jerry Krummel
Gerald A. Krummel is a Republican politician from the U.S. state of Oregon. A native of Washington, he served as mayor of Wilsonville, Oregon in the 1990s. An educator and athletic trainer, he is a former member of the Oregon House of Representatives, representing Wilsonville and parts of...
who successfully introduced legislation based on ideas and testimony provided by FOBM. Notable changes in the 2005 legislature included House Bill 2484 which codified double-majority vote for all "Service Provider" annexations under ORS-195. Also, HB-2477 eliminated the three-mile (5 km) veto which allowed cities to prevent incorporation of a new city within three miles (5 km). The enactment of HB-2477 allowed the Bull Mountain community to attempt incorporation.