No lie


Remember Governor Kohoutek's famous "task farce force" that was going to solve Portland's problems? Well, it appears they're still on the scene, and they just recently got around to taking a look at the ungodly tax burden that Portland puts on its middle-class and high-income populations. As paraphrased by the Weed:

High taxes are hurting job growth in Portland and chasing wealthy people out of town. Despite those aggressive levies, many government services are poor, in part because $1.26 billion in specialized taxes aimed at girding for climate change, getting kids into preschool, and helping the homeless have gone unspent....

Specific items the study unearthed: Lawmakers and voters have enacted at least 20 major taxes on Portlanders since 2009. Local taxes on city businesses rose 82% from 2019 to 2023. People leaving Portland have higher incomes than new arrivals. About 40% of the transportation assets in Portland, such as roads, are in bad shape.

The Weed shows its biases there. It's not just "wealthy people" who are getting hammered. Here's what the report shows about middle-class families, too:

I'm surprised the report, which you can find in full here, was allowed to see the light of day. It challenges the playbook for every politician in Multnomah County, which is as follows:

1.  Gouge anyone with a real job and a real life. 
2.  Hand out money to unionized government employees, nonprofit grifters, and favored developer weasels.
3.  Gain votes from countless bleating sheep by doing 1 and 2 above.

Given that it doesn't tell the governor what she wants to hear – She Herself is the epitome of a Multnomah County politician – this report is sure to be round-filed as quickly and as quietly as possible. But for a moment there, somebody said something.

Comments

  1. If the local media decides to run with this theme, they will lose all of their political sources. That’s why the story will die. This issue won’t see the light of day until the collapse.

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  2. Also scandalous…….Oregon has the highest income tax in America on low income earners, a 8.75% rate on earnings above approximately $9,000 for a single tax filer.

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  3. We will be left with a classic urban "hole in the donut." Subsidized poverty and a permanent underclass keeping bureaucrats' mortgages paid; vitality on the periphery...maybe even as far away as Idaho.

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  4. Older and wealthier people are leaving Oregon -- not just Portland -- to avoid Oregon's significant estate tax, which taxes any estate with assets of over $1 million at a minimum of 10% and 16% at maximum. Idaho, California, and Nevada have no estate tax at all, and Washington's threshold is higher than Oregon's at $2.1 million. Some of these wealthier people retain their properties and a part-time presence in Oregon, but establish tax residences in another state.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It’s a reality for many acquaintances.

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    2. A house with no mortgage, and a couple of retirement accounts, and one million dollars is right there. I didn't realize this, so thanks for the info. I've already been looking at moving, guess this might accelerate that planning.

      Delete

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