8
The Hidden Tax
dollars to the tax rolls, it has taken
millions m ore off again. This process
of improving and even re-improving
an area may be the nearest thing to a
perpetual motion machine man has yet
to create, and new urban renewal
districts can be designated.
Let’s kx)k at that same array now'
in terms of actual taxes levied. What
we will discover this time, is income
generated for the Portland
Development Commission for 1987-88
will be over $H million dollars, and
that m ore than $95 million dollars has
been added to the local tax bills since
increment financing began.
Who’s Responsible?
The people in charge are the
m em bers of the Portland Development
Commission. They have an executive
director and they operate with public
dollars as a quasi-private entity. They
are appointed by the city council Are
they directly answerable to the voters
(those who live within the city)? No.
* 1 ot
Is Tax Increment
Financing a Good
Strategy for Today?
Maybe. The purpose of this
presentation is to present the issues so
that an informed public can become a
partner in an open discussion with
their elected representatives at both
the local and state level. Taxpayers
ought to question whether or not the
cost of tax increment financing should
remain a hidden cost or should be
recorded as part of the tax statement.
To get the cost recorded, there needs
to be a change in the law and the first
order of business is to contact state
representatives. A call to the Multnomah
County Elections Division (248-3720)
will provide information on how to
contact elected state representatives.
Once the public knows the cost
of these urban renewal projects, it is
able to assess how much, if any, of
these dollars should be diverted from
CAROLINE MILLER, Commissioner
Multnomah County Oregon
County Courthouse
Portland, Oregon 97204
public education, police, fire, health
care, jails and other basic services to
create urban renewal projects. And
there is some built-in accountability
too, because people can decide
whether or not they are getting what
they are paying for. They can hardly
do that if they d o n ’t realize that money
for schools or these other basic
serv ices are being reduced in order to
build office complexes in downtown
Portland, for example. So, let the
public be informed and let the debate
begin! ■
The following
contributed technical
advice in preparation of the
manuscript:
• Oliver Larson
• Charles Sauvie
• Tom Dennehv
• Staff of Multnomah
County Assessment
Taxation Division