Oregonians reject tax increase

AP ^ | 2/3/2004 | Brad Cain

[Blood of Tyrants]

Exactly. We are rapidly approaching the point where more people are riding in the wagon than pulling.

[Jotmo]

setting the stage for yet another round of slashing in spending for schools, courts and other programs already reeling from earlier cuts.

The Oregon legislatures threats of "cutting" (the rate of increase) mean nothing to me. They always threaten to cut things that people care about most. God forbid we should quit giving free medical care/school/housing/welfare to illegals. Or cut spending on "the arts". Oh, no. We have to start with cops and schools. And then, we'll cut the building and teacher salary budget, not the administrators.

Cuts for schools....

We home school our kids and I still have to pay their stinking school taxes. Piss on you. Cut them, see if I care.

Cuts in Cort's/law enforcement....

I carry 24/7 and am quite capable of taking care of myself and my family. Anyone trying to commit robbery in Eastern Oregon is an idiot anyway with all the people carrying guns around here. Private citizens carrying weapons does more to deter crime than the cops ever will. Last time I talked to a cop was was about 3 years ago and he was giving me a ticket for doing 4 MPH over the speed limit. Cut the cops, see if I care.

I could go on...

But I'll spare you.

[AuntB]

Leave Oregon? I had to last spring. After 25 years of suffering the results of an auto accident and then a few more illnesses that put me in a spot where NO one would hire me at age 56, I finally had to sell my home of 30 years. I was quite stunned to realize that I could not afford to buy anything in So. Oregon because real estate had gone so high! I also lost about 50 thousand dollars on my property because a man who brings in "guest workers" bought the property across the street, moved in a dozen, destroyed the place.

And as for all this whining about the "poor" and "sick" and "old" getting services cut....the state of Oregon, in their "disability" plan hires psychologists to do 12 hours of "psychological" testing for medical disability applicants. What do you think these "psycholigists" charge for 12 hours? They're not getting ousted. I was referred to this agency and told them I didn't care to participate in this sham. THAT really ticked them off. They sent a report to SSA that said I "refused" psychological testing and on that basis SSA has denied my benefits after paying into it for 35 years. Oregon Health plan...I didn' use it either because if you have worked hard, have a home...they lein it. All the "guest workers" across the street had OHP.

I've coined a new term, "Bureaucrat syndrome". I and too many Oregonians suffer from it. This state needs and EMEMA!

I miss my Oregon, but I don't miss the mess I watched it become in the last 25 years.

[AuntB]

"They are also government employees, and even employees in the nonprofit sector who work for organizations that receive state funding. Their bosses send them out to vote."

Exactly!! I call it "Bureaucrat Syndrome" and it can be fatal!

[Flashman_at_the_charge]

When you rob Peter to pay Paul you can always count on Paul’s vote.

[suzyq5558]

hehe, i know;0

[bray]

The real news is that last week The Boregonian was running polls showing the measure as a toss up. Remember who is making and who is reporting these polls. The ones with Yaaawn Cash & Carry beating W are the same polls that had Arnold tied in Cal. Ignore the polls and bring W into a landslide election. If he wins it is the Ash Heap for Rats and liberalism.

Pray for W and The Truth

[Hermann the Cherusker]

I've moved from Oregon 18 months ago. I now live in Houston. What I paid in state income tax in Oregon, pays the mortgage on my house down here.. nice house too

This sounded pretty bad, so I went and looked at the Oregon Tax forms online and ran my income through it. 9% tax rate! And I thought 2.8 flat rate here in PA was bad!

Instead of my slightly over $2000 PA liability, I had an Oregon liability of $5000!

Another difference. In Oregon, you pay taxes if your income is over just $10,000. In PA, we exempt everyone with income under $30,000. And we still have rates almost 3 times lower.

Even New York and Massachusetts are better than Oregon. That's just wrong.

[tje]

Oregon does have a high income tax rate, but they do not have sales tax.

[cogitator]

In 2003, Oregon ranked 39th in total state and local tax burden; Pennsylvania ranked 36th. This is measured as a percentage of income; 9.1% for PA vs. 9.0% for OR. (Income taxes are not the whole story; Oregon has no state sales tax.)

Comparing the Total Tax Burden in Each State to Just the State/Local Tax Burden

[Tailback]

Now run a comparison of spending by state governments per capita smart guy.

[Tailback]

Since I know you won't, I'll do it for you.



Oregon is already one of the highest spending states in the nation - sixth highest of the fifty states in per-capita state spending, up from eighth highest two years ago.

But wait - we regularly hear that Oregon is really a moderate or low tax state. A recent newspaper editorial confidently proclaimed that Oregon is just 37th of 50 states based on how much revenue it derives from taxes on income. How can we be low tax, but high spending?

The answer is, we aren't low tax. In Oregon, taxes get hidden. Taxes get called by other names - fees, charges, assessments, and so forth. Since property taxes are capped, government agencies that need more money will collect huge up-front "development charges" that then get passed on (in the form of higher prices) to the buyer, who finances them through a larger loan. The part you pay that is labeled "tax" is comparatively small, but the amount the government collects is quite large - enough to finance the sixth highest per-capita spending of any state.

These hidden taxes that drive up the cost of construction also help explain why Oregon has some of the least affordable housing of any state.


http://oregonmag.com/TaxVote104.htm

[Hermann the Cherusker]

The PA sales tax is negligible for a couple of reasons. It does not apply to food, clothing, and shoes; and we have tax free Delaware nearby to about half the population. I suspect that most of the sales tax revenue is from cars, furniture, and matresses, all of which end up taxed no matter where you buy them because of registration rules (cars) and delivery rules (furniture, etc.).

For major purchases of electronics and other portable items, etc., many people in my area go to tax free Delaware. My annual sales tax burden is less than $500 per year. We have no personal property tax, no car tax, etc.

I don't buy the tax burden figures given, at least as applying to me.

My calculations show an Oregon tax burden of about 7% state income on my AGI, then there is the 1.25% Portland tax (I live in Philadelphia proper, so we'll stick to apples and apples in comparisons), and the property tax.

My PA and Philly income taxes are a combined 7.3%, while my property tax is just $2200, which apparently is cheaper compared to what I would pay in Portland for an equivalent property. Altogether, my PA and Philly taxes are about 10% of my income, whil taxes for an equivalent situation in Oregon would appear to run me about 13.25%. And Philly income taxes are high (4.5%!). If I was back in Chester County, my tax burden would be 2% points lower.

[Hermann the Cherusker]

PA has no sales tax on food and clothing and shoes. My total annual sales tax here doesn't exceed $500, except in those years when I buy a car.

[cogitator]

Good answer! If you read what I previously posted about Maryland, you'd see that our good Governor is trying to avoid tax increases by hiking lots of fees... essentially following in the footsteps of Oregon as you describe it. Locally, several Maryland counties are trying to raise development fees and various real estate taxes to pay for schools.

States are getting nailed for big-budget items (see what Schwarzenegger is facing in California). Educational spending is skyrocketing even though programs don't seem to be that effective. (As an aside, I think we're totally missing the boat with "No Child Left Behind" -- the most educated countries with the most advanced students leave most of the children behind by means of fierce competition.) Homeland security costs are way up and only partially compensated. Medicare is a huge growing burden.

That's why the states are hurting and why they're trying to find different ways to raise revenue. In this talk of "ohhh there's so much waste, and government employees are overpaid, and there's so many agencies that could be cut", the difference is between peanuts and coconuts. You can put a bunch of peanuts and a few coconuts into a basket. You could then take out nearly all of the peanuts, and you'd barely be able to squeeze in one more coconut. When I hear the discussion of what to cut, the discussion is about peanuts. Unless you address the coconuts, hardly anything changes.

[cogitator]

My previous comments about Maryland are in the thread below.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1072216/posts