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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (April 25, 2001)
April 25, 2001 Page A4 J ìu r tla n ò © b s e r u e r B Opinion  ""X jju r t la t i ì i • • Wije ^ o r tía n h ÖDbseruer USPS 959-680 E s ta b lis h e d 1 9 7 0 STA FF E d it o r P C in h ie f , u b l is h e r Charles H. Washington E u s in e s s M anager Gary Ann Taylor A sst . P ublisher Michael Leighton C opy E d it o r Joy Ramos C the rep o rt’s author. “ M uch o f this is no doubt due to the zealous m isinfor m ation cam paigns by groups who seek to de-fund im portant public ser vices such as education and health care,” he added. “ D espite faltering public educa tion and a shredded safety net for the poor, children, and the disabled, anti- govern m en t activ ists co n tin u e to press for turther tax cuts that prim a rily benefit O reg o n 's m ost econom i cally com fortable. T h eirth irst fortax cuts seem s to know no lim it as they soak O regonians w ith m isinfonna- tion about our tax system ,” said T h om pson. “Contrary to claim s o f anti-gov ernm ent activists, tax levels in O r egon are not high and have not been rising. Total state and local tax collec tions have trailed behind econom ic growth in Oregon for some time now,” said Thom pson. The m ost rem arkable aspect o f O regon C enter for P l blk P olka A new report finds that the tax burden in O regon is near its low est levels in the last 20 years. State and local taxes, as a share o f incom e in Oregon, have gone from 11.8 percent in 1988 to 10.2 percent in 1999, steadily declining over the past 10 years. C om pared w ith six other W estern states, O reg o n ’s household tax burden is in the m iddle and its business tax burden is the lowest. T he O regon C enter for Public Policy used a variety o f data sources to analyze the current and past tax burdens O regonians face, in an at tem pt to inform the debate over taxes. “ A nnual surveys show O regonians g en erally are not know led g eab le a b o u t sta te g o v ern m en t rev en u e sources and expenses,” noted Jeff T h o m p so n , an ec o n o m ist at the Silverton-based research institute and O reg o n ’s overall tax structure is its regressivity. W hile O reg o n ’s single- largest tax, the personal incom e tax, is partially based on the ability to pay, the overall tax structure places a higher burden in low -incom e h o u se holds. The total effective state and local tax rate o f the low est-incom e 20 per cent o f O regon households is 12.3 percent, com pared to the 11.8 percent rate o f the highest-incom e 20 per cent. O regon taxes low -incom e house holds at higher rates than upper-in com e households because o f the re gressive com ponents o f the tax struc ture - property and excise taxes - and because O regon taxes fam ilies at in com e levels well below poverty. O r egon levies the eighth highest in com e tax on four-person, p o o r w o rk ing fam ilies. O reg o n le v ie s the n atio n ’s third highest tax on four person families who are slightly above the poverty level In addition to the declining total state and local tax burden, the effec tive federal tax rates on nnddle-in- com e fam ilies have also fallen in re cent years. “ D ata from the C o n g ressio n al Budget O ffice show that federal taxes on m iddle-incom e families are at their low est point in the last thirty years,” noted T hom pson. • The study, “C learing the A ir on Tax Day: A ssessing the Tax Burden in O regon,” is available on the O CPP T he O regon C e n ter for Public Policy is a non-profit research o rga nization that analyzes budget, tax, and program issues im portant to low- and m oderate-incom e O regonians, the m ajority o f O regonians. z-"-. I B IR D S 1 CAT. 3 SQ U IRR ELS d it o r Larry J. Jackson, Sr. B New Report Clears the Air on Taxes r e a t iv e D ir e c t o r Robert Parker 4 7 4 7 NE M a rtin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. Portland, OR 9 7 2 1 1 5 0 3 -2 8 8 -0 0 3 3 Fax 5 0 3 -2 8 8 -0 0 1 5 e-maN news@portlandobserver.com sUxwlptton@porttendobeerverxom 7 2 0 0 VOLTS. Mississippi Vote Deeply Disappointing N A A C P w ill not give up its fight to rem ove from public property any and all sym bols that celebrate the tw isted p h i losophy o f bigotry and hatred in this country. The historic M ississippi State conference o f the NA ACP is to be com m ended for leading the fight on this issue. “ The governor and business leaders w orked hard in this effort to create a new M issis N A A C P P resident & CEO K w e is i M fu m e c a lle d T u esd ay ’s decision by the vot ers in M ississip p i to retain the c o n fe d e rate em blem on the s ta t e ’s flag “ d e e p ly d is a p pointing.” M fum e said, “ it is too bad that the v o ters o f M ississippi have chosen to stay b uried in the past instead o f m oving for w ard into the 21 st century. T hat, not w ith sta n d in g , the sippi. It is a sham e that m any v o te rs d id not sh a re th e ir v ie w s. It is im p o rta n t fo r people to em brace sym bols o f unity and not sym bols o f d iv i siv e n e s s : T he C o n fe d e ra te sym bol represents b igotry and hatred not only in A m erica, but also around the w orld. O ur thanks to the m ulti-racial board based c o alitio n that w orked w ith th e N A A C P in th is stru g g le,” M fum e added. YOU D BE AMAZED W H A T S H ID IN G V IN Y O U R T R E E . . > , '- W Cycling Center Needs Bikes! ones! W hat c a n ’t be used as a b icycle m ight get used to m ak e re c y c le d a rt or other things. W e can use e v ery th in g from fancy road bikes, high tec h m o u n ta in b ik es and classic cru isers to your b a sic 10 speed from the ‘7 0 ’s. E verything goes to a good cau se! com m uter bicycles to 100 P ortland residents in need o f affordable transportation to th eir places o f em ploy m ent. K ick o ff your spring cleaning and help m ake this project successful by donat ing your unused bikes. C all 503-288-8864 for de tails, or drop bikes o ff at our shop located at 1700 N.E. A lberta. W e can use any bikes you have, ex cept re a lly rusty The Com m unity Cycling C enter is a local non-profit agency ded icated to p ro v id ing b icy cles to low -incom e m em bers o f th e P o rtlan d co m m unity. D o n atio n s o f a d u lt- s iz e d b ic y c le s a re needed for use in its teen and adult program s. O v e r th e n e x t s e v e ra l m onths, in w hat w e call the C reate A C o m m u ter p ro gram , we w ill give re fu r b ish ed and fu lly -o u tfitte d C o n t a c t w ith a p o w e r l i n e c a n c a u s e s e r i o u s i n j u r y . B e fo re d o in g an y y a rd w o rk th is s p r in g , lo o k u p . I f y o u s e e a l i n e g iv e u s a c a ll a t 1 - 8 0 0 - 5 4 4 “ 1 7 9 4 - / V S PGE PGE/ P ortland General Electric Sincerely, the C o m m u n ity Cycling C enter WW W . 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