PORTLAND HAS a panhandling problem, and not just downtown. Don’t believe us? Check out this fall’s ballot.
Three agencies whose coffers have been sucked dry by the recession (TriMet, the Oregon Historical Society, and the city’s fire bureau) are turning to voters and hoping we’ll approve some $210 million in new taxes to keep them afloat.
They may not be as sexy as the Cowboy vs. Trail Blazer governor’s race, but these levies could have just as big of an impact on your wallet—and your city.
TriMet’s Broken Buses
WHAT IT IS: TriMet needs to replace aging buses, buy more vans that transport disabled riders, and improve 300 bus stops across the city. TriMet is selling this measure, which renews a property tax voters approved in 1990, as crucial to improving access to transit for aging Baby Boomers (in the past 10 years, requests to transport elderly and disabled riders have increased 69 percent). With the money, TriMet will replace 150 high-floor buses (which old and disabled people find difficult to board) with low-floor ones at a cost of $425,000 to $440,000 per bus. About 20 percent of the money will go toward building sidewalks, benches, and other improvements at bus stops that pose problems for disabled people.
MONEY AT STAKE: $125 million for a 21-year property tax, essentially eight cents for every $1,000 of value.
WHY US? This is a renewal of a property tax from 1990. TriMet is in trouble because payroll taxes make up 55 percent of its budget—meaning it suffers whenever unemployment balloons.
BACKERS: Groups serving the poor and elderly have endorsed the measure. The biggest gift, $20,000, came from light-rail contractors Stacy and Witbeck.
OPPONENTS: Pro-transit groups criticize TriMet for cutting bus service for a decade, then turning to property taxes to improve it. The Oregonian says TriMet shouldn’t go into debt to pay for the improvements.
History Museum Lifeline
WHAT IT IS: Facing a budget crunch in 2003, the state axed funding for the Oregon Historical Society. With a looming deficit of its own, the state’s history museum and library can’t go it alone any longer and need a bailout to keep their doors open and restore cuts to library staff.
MONEY AT STAKE: $12 million in a five-year property tax, or five cents for every $1,000 of value. In exchange, Multnomah County residents will score free museum access (currently $11).
WHY US? Even the people who wrote the levy agree that one county shouldn’t bear the burden of supporting a museum that serves the entire state. But the museum is also the de facto Multnomah County museum, with 60 percent of the materials about our county.
BACKERS: History lovers. The county commission also unanimously endorsed the measure.
OPPONENTS: The historical society got into hot water with its staff last year after it cut the library staff from 15 people to four. Though many of those ex-librarians support keeping the museum open, they also criticized the society for failing to find or lobby for more reliable funding.
Fire! Fire! Fire!
WHAT IT IS: The fire bureau’s radios are so outdated they don’t even work in parts of hilly Southwest Portland. Plus an audit revealed firefighters didn’t meet response-time goals 15 percent of the time. The bureau wants to replace aging fire engines, build a new station and emergency response center, and update radios.
MONEY AT STAKE: The city will borrow $72.4 million, to be paid back with property tax revenue—adding about nine to 14 cents for every $1,000 in value.
WHY US? The upgrades didn’t make it into the budget this year, so making them happen means asking voters.
BACKERS: Fire Commissioner Randy Leonard is the political champion. The firefighters union and big companies out for political points (Motorola, PGE, Nike) are major donors.
OPPONENTS: City Commissioner Amanda Fritz voted against the bond in July, arguing the city should fund basic services from its general fund.
Tri-Met needs to learn how to run a profitable business before they get to suck at the teat of Portland taxpayers yet again.
The Historical Society? Same rules. What have they done to encourage attendance and lucrative private events.
I’m going to spend my tax dollars on retired school teachers and public sector employees. Sorry Fire Dept. nothing left for you.
Run a profitable business? Brilliant. So rather than kick in an extra $3.33 a month (if you have a $500K house), you’d cut transportation services for thousands.
Hell, let’s get credit card readers on the fire trucks. You pay, we spray.
Dub, if Tri-Met stopped pouring money into streetcars and the little used MAX (relative to usable capacity) and focused on the buses that actually serve the people of Portland they wouldn’t be asking for more money. So no, I’d rather not “kick in” an extra $40 per year on my already inflated property taxes.
These measures all add up. Let’s see. $40 for Tri-Met, $24 for the Historical Society and $67 for the Fire Dept. That’s an increase of $131 this year plus the county will raise my property taxes even though property values are still declining. Tack on a water bill that is going to be over $100 per month due to the increase this last July (my water is only $18 per month, the rest is “drainage” and taxes). With the highest income-tax in the nation these measures are becoming incredibly burdensome to the average homeowner in this town.
Look at the cost to benefit ratio. Services are being cut, our roads are ruddy with potholes, human feces spill into the Willamette river every time it rains. I’d like to see responsible use of the money I am already paying before I give more.
Oops, I forgot to include the forest conservation measure that gives state lottery money to non-profits instead of giving it to the state agencies that actually care for our forests and parks.
Please stop voting “yes”.
“Little used MAX?” Are you kidding me? I ride MAX every day and it is PACKED.
No to the FD tax! Mult Co response model is outdated and expensive. Fire Departemnts prop up their numbers to justify their existance by responding to ALL medical calls in addition to car wrecks, fires, and the cat up in the tree. We citizens don’t need fire fighters on 90% of the calls that they respond to. We already get an ambulance with two trained paramedics. Unless the patient is on fire, people dont need them there. It is wasteful and redundant. Most fire stations in Mult Co can boast about over 50,000 calls per year! My question is, how many were they needed on. Answer, about 10%. The European Model of EMS does not do it this way. It is way more inexpensive to have an ambulance repsond to medical and leave the firefighters response to fires and care wrecks. We could probably get by with less than half the fire stations! Fire trucks have at least three to four guys on that million dollar rig, getting about five mpg repsonding to thousands of unnecesary calls / year. Waistful. All those firefighters are drawing on health insurance, pensions, and annual salaries of over $75K / year. We can do better as a community. I know some school districts and teachers that could shure use those waisted dollars.