Cut half the cops and transfer them to the road crew. If they balk, chain gang 'em.

So, cut the waste at BPS and liquidate the PDC. Then, we will pony up the rest.

city gas tax

You say the gas tax is stagnant. But how much revenue does it actually provide PBOT. And what are PBOT's other current revenue sources? And what are it's expenses? What portion of its budget actually goes to street maintenance? Any fool knows that virtually none of their property tax goes to streets, that's a pretty easy story. How about some actual investigative reporting instead of a take-what-the-government-says-and-don't-ask-questions story?

William the Conqueror? Really? How many police forces or fire departments were there in 1066? Another case of Novick's hook-in-mouth disease rearing its ugly head.

Why does Multnomah County get such a huge cut off the top? Where does that money go?

I remember back in the day when Massachusetts was known as Taxachusetts (under Dukakis). At the time, the state also had a rather bloated county system. Governor Weld later demolished it up quietly and without much fanfare or press. One article I found states "Just over $1 billion was saved during the first 10 years of county abolition statewide." (http://www.eagletribune.com/opinion/x1265287672/A-not-so-fond-remembrance-of-Essex-County-government/print)

If we had a public bank we could float our own bond measures and save on the money that goes to Wall Street.

What are "Special Appropriations"? And ONI share is as big as BPS?!?

It's bold to call spending on urban renewal projects "largely outside city hall's control". Sure, in 2014 they are unbreakable contracts, but they exist because of the love city hall has historically showered upon the PDC. (You can see this a few graphs later, where it is pointed out the pie slice for urban renewal funds keeps getting larger.) Next time a new urban renewal area is proposed, think hard whether it's worth the long term commitment.

You do your readers a disservice by not reporting more details about how the PBOT money is currently being spent and the amount of their total revenue: the property taxes plus the gas taxes. It is obvious to those of us living in SW Portland that money is currently being spent on road, sidewalk and bridge construction based on our construction road closures and one-way routing delays. What will the extra tax money be spent on that is not already scheduled for construction? Present more information. It is frustrating to see all of the negative discourse while not seeing the facts on which it is based.