Does the Port of Portland owe all the property owners tax refunds?

Money to burn.

I wrote this morning about another blogger's suggestion that the Port of Portland's territory may now extend to Columbia and Yamhill Counties, even though the Port has never read state law that way. The blogger's main point was that those two counties should have representation on the Port's governing board, and they don't.

But as he has since pointed out a little while ago on social media, he's now realized that there's an even more important stake in the game: The Port collects property tax from all private property owners in its district, which means that if he's reading the statute correctly, the folks in Washington, Multnomah, and Clackamas County have paid too much, and those in Yamhill and Columbia Counties have paid too little – namely, nothing – for many years.

This could get interesting if someone in the mainstream media would take a break from writing about the airport carpet and raise the issue with the Port's lawyers, and the state's. I know I'd like my refund.