I was curious to what extent these entities *are* funded by tax dollars. Looking at TriMet, 55% of their operating revenue comes from "payroll and other taxes" with another 24% coming from grants. (I couldn't find figures offhand of what that revenue is, but the other 21% comes from ridership fees.)

The Port, on the other hand (if I'm reading it correctly http://www.portofportland.com/PDFPOP/Strat…) looks like it gets about 1% of its funding ($9m) from taxes and about 9% from "grants/interest income/other".

It does seem strange to have our tax dollars being used to promote spending more tax dollars, though.

TK, TriMet's grant figure goes up and down, but the grants you mention are mostly federal and state, which come in turn from taxes of various sorts.

http://portlandafoot.org/w/TriMet_budget

"Is (insert anything pro CRC) in the public interest? Critics say no."

I just wrote your story in less than 140 characters.