OTE - Oregon Travel Experience

Council meeting to coincide with April 30, 2012 public hearing

Posted on: April 27th, 2012 in News & Press |

Image of an Oregon highway business sign

Oregon Travel Experience (OTE) and the OTIC Council will hold a special meeting on Monday, April 30, 2012 at 9:00 a.m. to collect public testimony on a proposed fee increase to the agency’s Highway Business Sign Program. The meeting and hearing will be held at OTE’s Salem offices located at 1500 Liberty St SE, Suite 150, Salem, OR 97302.

The agency’s governing council will formally convene the meeting and provide steering responsibility for hearing testimony from OTE customers. Download an agenda in PDF format.  (If you would like to view the agenda in alternate format, please contact the council assistant.)

OTE is the state agency responsible for administering highway business signs along major interstates and highways. Since the agency is semi-independent, its Highway Business Sign Program operates much like private industry: the revenues generated from business sign permits fund the program. Since 1972 OTE has managed to keep permit fees lower than the national average.

The last permit fee increase was in 2006. However, since 2007, costs for materials such as steel, aluminum, treated wood posts and reflective sheeting needed to manufacture the signs have continued to increase. The permit fee increase is necessary to cover those costs.

OTE is proposing a permit fee increase to its customers of:

  • Museum and non-profit signs: 10 percent per year
  • For all other businesses: 20 percent per year

Public comment will be accepted in person at the hearing on the 30th, as well as in writing or via email. Members of the public wishing to submit or share printed materials in person are requested to provide a copy of their testimony to OTE. Testimony length may be limited, depending on the number of citizens signing up to testify. All testimony, written or verbal, will be reviewed.

If you need special accommodations for the hearing, please contact Jenn Smith, 1-800-574-9397 at least 48 hours in advance of the special meeting. Email: Jenns@oregonte.com