I am dismayed by the ballot measures proposed for the fall election. On top of the state’s new corporate activity tax, Portland’s extension of the 10-cents-a-gallon gas tax and the city’s new high-earner income tax supporting the homeless, we now face a huge payroll tax from Metro for light rail, a big bill for work on Jefferson High School, a whopping new tax for Portland parks (including building new ones!) and another hit on Multnomah County’s high earners to fund preschools. All this without even addressing PERS, Oregon’s other pandemic.
Without passing on the proposals’ merits, my alarm stems from the question: Why now? Do the people advocating these new taxes have any idea of the economic wreckage to come? The usual defense of new projects is that they create jobs. But for whom? With the “prevailing wage” clause in government contracts, we all know who will get the lion’s share of the proceeds. While there’s usually a small set-aside for women and minorities, very little will go to those who need jobs the most. As The Oregonian/OregonLive has pointed out, our governor has not limited pay increases for state employees.
Are state and local government officials living on a different planet? Perhaps the only recourse for the many of us with limited means and worse prospects ahead will be to make our stressful economic circumstances known at the polls. That would be very unlike Portland, but perhaps its time has come.
Collier Brown, Portland