Multnomah County Income Tax Repeal
For those of you who are thinking about whether or not you should support the Mult. County income tax repeal or fight to keep the tax, there are a few things you should keep in mind.
The number one complaint made by those who are for the repeal is that the money is going somewhere else other then schools, the elderly and a few public services. There is a bi-partisan group who oversees exactly where this money goes. Every penny is accounted for. And it’s going exactly where we want it to.
The other complaint is that there’s too much fluff in the schools and we don’t need the tax because the money can come from other things. Wrong. While it’s true that just a few years ago PPS had gross amounts of money waste going on, that’s just not as true anymore. I’ve been talking to several teachers who are involved in this and they assure me that the Board Office has cut themselves off at the knees to reduce spending. There is nowhere else to cut except teachers, programs and days. With Days being the preferrable cut to make this year.
I think what upsets me the most is that I know alot of people at church who are working on behalf of the appeal because they believe the money is being wasted. And it’s not. And unfortunately, I’m starting to think that it’s going to take the shock of losing three months of school before people realize, “Hey, there’s a problem”. If we don’t fund our schools, there are no schools. Period.
To add some umph to my arguements, here’s a recent article in the Portland Business Journal and how they feel about the tax.
September 26th, 2004 at 11:13 pm
I DEFINITELY hope this tax is NOT repealed. I know the schools are benefiting and I know how much they need this money.
September 27th, 2004 at 4:19 am
The issue with the Multnomah County Tax for me is not that it’s wasting money. It’s two issues really: It’s taxing me based on an unknown quantity - I don’t own any property at all - so they tax me based on my income - except that it’s rather HIGH for one person to have to come up with at the end of the year, really. Over $200 for me, while I know of other people who DO own property who are only having to pay around $100 or so… That’s not right. Additionally, it’s up to our legistlature to suck up and admit to the fact that they screwed up with the money allotment in the first place, and quit taking raises every time there’s a vote for it, and instead using that money to help fund the schools. I honestly can’t think of a good reason for turning over my money to the county. So far, and I’ve lived here 8 years, the county has done nothing but help support the city’s frivolous spending binges on such wonderful money-pits as PGE park and the trolley, both of which had been floundering prior to being purchased. So really, where is our money really going to be spent?
October 9th, 2004 at 7:53 am
This tax is a temporary 3-year tax, for residents of Multnomah County. It is based on Oregon taxable income after an additional income exception of $2500 or $5000. The tax does not review property ownership.
I would agree that as citizens we should always review the spending habits of our public officials. My advice is, if you don’t like what your public officials are doing, vote them out of office. However, this temporary tax is working! Don’t punish our kids and seniors for the activities of our public officials. Vote no on the tax repeal efforts. For information about where the Multnomah County Income Tax money is being spent and exactly what the impact of a repeal would mean, please visit the website of the oversite committee at http://www.seacinfo.org.