Oregon sales tax would ease school funding
but may hurt homes with moderate incomes
By Tonnie Dakin
(N th* Kimrald
I.ike its neighboring states of
California. Washington and
Idaho, Oregon soon may have a
state sales tax if Ballot Measure
7 is passed in the Nov. 4
election.
The 5 percent sales tax "is on
sales or purchases of tangible
personal property and not ser
vices," according to the Oregon
voters pamphlet. This means
that the tax "exempts most
necessities of life and all ser
vices." such as food, prescrip
tion drugs, water, fuel, elec
tricity. rent and mortgage
payments.
If passed the measure would
shift the bulk of the tax revenue
needed for Oregon's public
schools from property taxes to
retail sales taxes.
Seventy percent of the money
from the sales tax would be us
ed on Oregon's public school
system to replace money cur
rently paid by property taxes
The remaining 30 percent of
the proceeds from the sales tax
would be spent to reduce pro
perty tax rates for individual
homeowners and renters.
Proponents of the bill say that
it would help the public school
system in Oregon by stabilizing
its funding.
"Essentially, we have a pro
blem in Oregon. . the way we
fund our schools in the state,"
said Raymond Gross, president
of the Eugene Education
Association.
"We depend on property
taxes for almost 70 percent of
our funding, and they (taxes)
have risen to the point that peo
ple are rebelling against paying
them,” Gross said.
People are now voting against
property tax measures, which
results in closures of schools, he
said. Ballot Measure 7 would
reduce the schools' dependency
on property taxes, dross said.
One problem with the bill is
that it does not stipulate any
form of distribution, said
Gilbert Campbell, co-chairman
of the No Sales Tax Committee.
The school districts will have to
devote time and resources to
dividing up the money, he said.
Gross agreed that there is no
set form of distribution.
“That's not absolutely cer
tain. probably it would be
distributed the way the basic
support money is now.. . per
the number of students." Gross
said.
A similar legislative measure,
which was put on the ballot for
the September 1985 election,
did not pass
There is a difference between
the two measures. Gross said.
Oregonians were concerned
about the other measure for
several reasons, he said, in
cluding the fact that they did
not want the amount of the tax
to rise in the future.
“This is a constitutional
amendment." he said. "That
means that the 5 percent will be
the figure. The only way it
could change is by a vote of the
people."
Another concern about the
previous bill was how the funds
would be distributed. Gross
said. This bill clearly states that
70 percent of the sales tax
revenue will go to schools, and
the remaining 30 percent will
be used to help reduce property
tax rates, he said.
"1 believe we have answered
what the people in the state
have said they want." Gross
said.
Opponents of the measure
argue that it would lie detrimen
tal to small business in Oregon.
Campbell said, because they
don't 'have the high-volume
Correction
An Oct. 22 Oregon Daily Emerald article on ballot
measures 18 and 51, which call for a nuclear-free county and
city, incorrectly stated that Measure 51 would ban all military
defense systems and would prohibit transportation of nuclear
wastes through Eugene.
The measure only bans those systems that could lie used to
wage nuclear war and only prohibits the transportation of
nuclear waste generated by nuclear weapons or nuclear
power production. It allows all basic nuclear research
Measure 51 would create a seven-person board that would
not have the power to prescribe fines, contrary to information
provided by the city of Eugene.
Eva Edelman, spokesperson for Political Action for lasting
Security, which circulated petitions on behalf of measure 51.
said it is the Nuremburg Principles that call for non
compliance with a government that is violating basic prin
ciples of humanity. The statement was not based on
Edelman's opinion.
Transportation accidents involving radioactive wastes, not
radioactive accidents in general, occurred about every 15
days between 197.1 and 1978.
The Emerald regrets any confusion these errors may have
caused.
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revenue to absorb the cost of
distribution and collection of
the tax.
"It will make a substantial
dent into their income." he
said.
The tax also would make it
harder to start a small business
in the state, he said, because the
tax would increase the cost of
building materials.
In addition, businesses along
the state's border would lie
hurt. Campbell said. All other
states that border Oregon have a
sales tax. If Oregon was also to
implement a tax, "the
businesses along our borders
would lose that competitive
edge," he said.
The bill is unfair and
regressive because by shifting
ihe tax from property to retail
sales, the tax burden falls on
low- and middle-income
families rather than corpora
tions. Campbell said.
“It tends to tax low-income
and m i d d I e - i n c o m e in
dividuals. . and especially
families." he said. “Corpora
tions tend to get a break "
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