Way to wade into this stuff Denis. Welcome to the loony bin.

My property's value went down but my property taxes went up. I know the reason why but you're high if you think I'm willing to pay more on less. Cut something.

I like SPK's response of "cut something."

Of course he'll probably be the first one to complain about all the mentally ill people roaming the streets because they won't cut anything like construction that is creating jobs. It will be funding for the mentally ill and schools that suffer.

A more proper response might have been "fix something." As in Republicans Bill Sizemore and Kevin Mannix's Measures 5, 47, and 11 which are largely the cause of nobody having funding for anything anymore.

SPK...you might want to do some reading up.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/09/opinion/…

@SPK: I could bulldoze my house, (and not replace it,) and my property tax bill would still rise. I'd have to dump toxic waste on the ground, and then point it out the the tax assessor before I could get my property tax bill to fall.

Because of Measure 5, and the fact that about 15 years ago my house was worth almost nothing, I currently pay $800/year in property taxes and it goes up by 3% a year, (the maximum that the law allows.) That, combined with my income taxes (on my above median salary,) when will I have paid off the debt on sending myself to elementary school? Most likely, never because I barely make the interest payments at current interest rates.

Part of the reason Metro wants to knock down houses and build new buildings is because it is the only way to raise the taxes by more than 3%/yr. It is completely messed up, but it is their only choice if the governments don't want to go bankrupt. In California they have similar laws to Measure 5 about how fast your taxes can rise, however the assessed value resets when the house is sold, but in Oregon you get to keep the assessed value from the previous owner even though it is obvious that the real value is quite a bit more than that (since someone just paid that much.)

I'd totally support this rule change, in fact, I'd support almost any rule change. We have to do something.

Sorry I didn't stick around to follow up. We can't tax people out of their homes. I like Matthew D's proposed rule change. Thanks for the link to the Krugman article. I generally agree with his opinions. You're right, a better response is "fix something".

I think the real frustration here is that I am paying my fair share but suspect someone else is not. I'm definitely not one of those "government does nothing right" guys.

I like government. I like Metro. But that report lays our a vast expansion of Metro functions that I doubt cities and counties are going to give up. For instance, why should metro identify "main streets". The regional governments can and do cooperate on their own.

Good catch on the excise taxes. Did the Trib and the O bother to ask? I think the legislature would have to enable that and the combo of rural counties casting a suspicious eye on Portland and taxes, as well as special interest lobbyists, have turned those specific taxes back before. But I would be for adjusting property taxes at each sale above the 3% per year cap, including on tax sheltered condos, cutting short the break, but that would take a constitutional amendment. It would be the "Oregon Property Tax Fairness Act for New Buyers"(TM).

"The regional governments can and do cooperate on their own."

What region are you living in? The 26 municipalities in this region are constantly bickering and fighting over limited state and federal funds. JPACT would be a step in the right direction if it were proportionally appropriate and actually worked.

To make it work and to better serve all those 26 cities, we NEED an expansion of Metro functions to plan, finance and evaluate transportation and infrastructure around the region.

We moved here 10 years ago from Chicago and fell in love with the area. Real Estate taxes are about the same. What we need is a sales tax, to have more stable funding, so we wouldn't rely on raising RE taxes. Then Metro should be given more rein to improve the region over time.