What Oregon cities want from the next legislature is, mostly, more money or a way to get more. There are good reasons for this, but there are even better reasons for protecting city residents from upward spiraling tax bills from the cities or the state.
The League of Oregon Cities plans to lobby the legislature next year for a constitutional amendment relaxing the limit on property taxes. Let’s hope lawmakers will resist the cities’ blandishments. Instead, they should give cities better tools to reduce their costs.
There is no end to the complaints about Oregon’s tax system, or to the proposals for fixing it. The latest comes from the Portland City Club, where a committee has written a report with recommendations for fixing the property tax. But there’s reason to be wary of so-called reforms. The property tax system is a convoluted […]
Watch out, Oregon homeowners. When the legislature meets starting in February, cities and some school districts will try to persuade lawmakers to refer a change in the property tax system to the voters, and this could cost you. Local governments want to weaken the property tax limits that voters approved in 1990 as Measure 5. […]
Don’t make property tax worse
It is no news that the Oregon property tax system is a total mess, but efforts to fix it so far would only make it worse. One such Band-Aid is House Joint Resolution 21, which calls on the voters to amend the Constitution to impose a minimum county tax rate of $2 per thousand everywhere […]
Tags: HJR 21, House Revenue Committee, Oregon property tax