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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 14, 2016)
3A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2016 Measure 97 proponents unveil new corporate sales tax proposal A Better Oregon proposes tax hike By PARIS ACHEN Capital Bureau SALEM — The two sides that clashed bitterly over a cor- porate sales tax measure on the November ballot profess to a willingness to work together to find a solution to Oregon’s chronic revenue instability. But so far, both appear to be marking their battle lines, only this time for a skirmish in the Legislature rather than at the ballot box. Lawmakers face a delicate tightrope act in which they hope to prevent alienating one side or the other. Many of the players from both sides will remain the same as the fight moves to Salem. And in many ways, their messages going forward echo those they highlighted during the election. Business leaders have conceded the state needs more revenue. But they are demanding state pension reform and curtailed spending before they agree to any new business taxes. Meanwhile, A Better Ore- gon, which ran the Measure 97 campaign, continues to hammer on the need for big corporations to be more trans- parent and to pay their fair share. State Sen. Mark Hass, D-Beaverton, chairman of the Senate Committee on Reve- nue, recently illustrated the challenge with a quip: If he could get people to agree to tax guitar playing, he would go for it. A Better Oregon, a coa- lition of public unions and advocacy groups, unveiled its legislative proposals includ- ing a scaled-back corpo- rate sales tax, an expansion of health care provider taxes and a requirement that com- panies disclose what they pay in taxes. Paris Achen/Capital Bureau Andrea Paluso, executive director of Family Forward Or- egon, announces A Better Oregon’s legislative proposals for the 2017 session during a press conference Tuesday at the state Capitol in Salem. Meanwhile, the business community is solidifying the power it realized during the election, when its uni- fied resources and messaging defeated the $3 billion annual tax measure. During the annual Oregon Leadership Summit earlier this month, business leaders said they were open to new business taxes, but only if lawmakers also reformed the costly state retirement plan and made an effort to clean up wasteful spending. Pension reform will likely be a stick- ing point for the union-backed A Better Oregon, which has said it opposes any reductions to retirement benefits. Those same business leaders, however, have not answered calls from Gov. Kate Brown and others to present specific revenue-rais- ing proposals they would accept. Brown used her speech at the leadership sum- mit to specifically ask busi- ness leaders for such propos- als. Business representatives say it’s up to the governor to make the first move. “Right now, we would hope and expect that the gov- ernor and elected leaders will lead this process,” said Sam Tannahill, chairman of the Oregon Business Association. “The governor certainly put a challenge in front of the busi- ness community. However, at the same time, she said in the same speech: ‘Make no mistake; we will lead.’ That is something we are expect- ing her to do. The only thing we are saying is everything should be on the table.” The Oregon Business Association and Associated Oregon Industries, which will merge in July, will be main players in any negotia- tions over new business taxes. They’ll coordinate efforts through regular meetings of a new 10-member exec- utive committee, Tannahill said. The lineup has yet to be finalized, but representatives from Portland General Elec- tric, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, PacifiCorp Transmis- sion and A-dec dental equip- ment and supplies will have seats on the committee. A Better Oregon, which offered the corporate sales tax measure that was defeated in November, has proposed a smaller tax of 2 percent on corporations’ Oregon sales exceeding $100 million. The tax would raise about $4 billion a biennium to address the state’s projected $1.7 billion revenue short- fall for 2017-19 and increase spending for education and health care. A Better Oregon also endorses a proposal by the governor to expand the health care provider tax. The new corporate tax proposal is 0.5 percentage points less than the 2.5 per- cent rate proposed in Measure 97 and applies to all corpo- rations with sales exceeding $100 million instead of only C corporations’ sales exceed- ing $25 million. Utility com- panies would be exempt from the tax. The changes were a response to criticism of Mea- sure 97, said Andrea Paluso, executive director of Family Forward Oregon, a member of A Better Oregon. “It would protect home- grown businesses and call on the largest corporations doing business in our state to pay their fair share,” Paluso said. Lawmakers are still brain- storming ideas for raising rev- enue that would satisfy both sides. Sen. Hass may try to revive his proposal, made during this year’s February session, for a commercial activity tax. The tax would replace the corporate income tax. A .39 percent tax on busi- nesses with sales greater than $5 million would raise $1.3 billion in 2017-19 and $2 bil- lion in 2019-21, according to the nonpartisan Legislative Revenue Office. However, eliminating the corporate income tax would trim the net revenue gain to $500 million to $1 billion, Hass said. The Capital Bureau is a collaboration between EO Media Group and Pamplin Media Group. Warrenton wants public feedback on asset restriction Town hall planned for January By DERRICK DePLEDGE The Daily Astorian WARRENTON — The Warrenton City Commission wants to hear more from the public about the intent behind a charter amendment that restricted the transfer of city assets. The amendment, approved by voters 56 percent to 44 per- cent in November, requires double-majority voter approval to transfer city assets valued at more than $100,000. Backers of the ballot mea- sure had opposed a potential city land swap with Warrenton Fiber for Tansy Point in 2014. But the restriction could also apply to city assets such as fire trucks, water and sewer pipes, and contractual rights. Mayor Mark Kujala rec- ommended a town hall meet- ing in January to get public feedback. The mayor and city commissioners want clarifi- cation on what kind of assets and contractual rights should be covered. Depending on the feed- back, the City Commission could draft an ordinance clari- fying the restriction or ask vot- ers to refine the charter amend- ment in May. “The reason I think it’s nec- essary is that this could very well impact the business activ- ities for the city,” Kujala said at a work session Tuesday night. The City Commission had objected to the charter amend- ment, arguing that it was too broad and could handcuff the city. Ken Yuill, of the Warren- ton Property Protection Com- mittee, which supported the amendment, said the “voters have spoken. “And it’s pretty plain exactly what the result on that was,” he said. “Now we’ll just have to wait and see.” Commission recommends $574 million hike in transportation spending By PARIS ACHEN Capital Bureau SALEM — The Oregon Transportation Commission has recommended state leg- islators boost transporta- tion spending by $574 mil- lion a year to upgrade roads and bridges and relieve traf- fic congestion in metro areas. The figure is the first con- crete proposal in play for a transportation package, which is expected to be one of the major issues in front of the Legislature in 2017. The legislation will likely send hundreds of millions of dol- lars to the state Department of Transportation. Transportation commis- sioners presented a draft report outlining their rec- ommendations Tuesday to the legislative committee charged with crafting the transportation package. The transportation commission was scheduled to formally vote on the recommenda- tions Thursday. “We are creating a menu for you to start from,” said Tammy Baney, transportation commission chairwoman. Don’t Let This Christmas be Another Silent Night! Christmas is a time for MIRACLES! We get it. You’re tired of pretending you understood what your spouse, grandchild, or friend said. You’ve been struggling to hear, especially when everyone gathers for the Holidays, but don’t want to pay outrageous prices on hearing aids. 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