County car rental tax blowup implicates Portland bonds
Jim Redden, one of the few soldiers still standing at the Trib, has a strong story going about the allegedly illegal use of car rental taxes by Multnomah County. State Senator Rick Metsger from East County is making a big issue out of it, and he's backed up legally by the state's legislative counsel.
Today Redden points out that some of the tax dollars that state lawyers say are being misspent have been used to pay back money that was borrowed in 2001 to expand the Oregon Convention Center, refurbish what is now PGE Park, and improve the Performing Arts Center. Indeed, according to this document (page 8 of the pdf file), part of the car rental tax was apparently pledged as security for the Convention Center bonds; the same was true for bonds for the stadium and the performing arts center (page 8 of this file).
Meanwhile, on another city debt front, all of the city's bonds that were insured by the now-troubled bond insurance companies Ambac and MBIA have been officially downgraded by bond rating agencies, as revealed in the June notices here (among others). Bonds with a top rating now represent only a small part of the city's outstanding debt.
| Posted at 4:55 AM | Permalink |
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Comments (8)
County Commission have taken oath to uphold the law. Funny how quickly they abandon it whenever its convenient to do so. Same goes for pdx city council.
Posted by Abert | August 4, 2008 7:08 AM
I was going to post the classic "constant vigilance" quote, but I like this one better in this instance:
"Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys. – P.J. O’Rourke"
Posted by Molly | August 4, 2008 7:30 AM
Mayor elect Scam Adams often argues he can't divert money from one project, like streetcars, to another project, like street maintenance. Here's but one small example of how government officials and bureaucrats easily re-route money from one pot to another. Anyone who's been around a bureaucracy knows rules are there to inhibit the uninformed and unconnected. Those with the keys to the bureaucracy know how to synthetically change the locks quickly by changing terms, definitions, etc of a given project to fit the myriad of funding sources.
Posted by Bob Clark | August 4, 2008 9:12 AM
Sam Adams is the biggest and most seasoned liar to ever hold a seat on the council.
Posted by Ben | August 4, 2008 10:37 AM
A study was just published by the National Business Travel Association where they rank 50 cities according to their "discriminatory travel taxes," which are taxes on lodging, car rentals and meals. Portland ranked the highest in the country! They note that such taxes hurt local businesses and consumers since they account for "more than half of car rentals" and that the tax impact on out-of-town visitors results in lost business that cities often are not even aware of. Their report can be found at:
http://www.nbta.org/NR/rdonlyres/3103B645-EB23-4DDB-AC9B-7A169C6710EF/0/TravelTaxReportJuly2008Final.pdf
Posted by Bob Whelan | August 4, 2008 11:38 AM
Bob Whelan,
That is completely non-sensical. Of course Portland has the highest "rate of discriminatory travel taxes". There's no Sales Tax! Anything divided by 0 is infinite.
When looked at the raw amount of travel tax, Portland was at the bottom, usually 1/2 the cost of cities like San Francisco and that top resort location of Cleveland, Ohio.
Mr. Whelan, what you've just typed is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever read. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this blog is now dumber for having to read it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.
Posted by Well Duh.. | August 4, 2008 4:07 PM
I think Whelan links to an interesting set of statistics. Visitors to Portland don't pay general sales taxes, but they do get governmentally nickeled and dimed at the car rental counter and at hotel checkout.
To me the crucial distinction is that in sales tax states, the tourist revenue goes to all sorts of important government functions. Here in Portland it mostly goes (at least until now) to pay for the Convention Center, Performing Arts Center, and PGE Park. That's crazy.
Posted by Jack Bog | August 4, 2008 4:15 PM
The actual amount of discriminatory travel taxes for central city Portland, OR per day was $22.83 (lodging, car rental, and meals), which is the highest of the 50 cities surveyed by the NBTA and well above the average ($12.94). The point about dividing by zero, as brought to our attention from “Well Duh”’s vituperative comment, is inapplicable. The rate by the association is simply dollars spent per business visitor day, not as a ratio to sales taxes.
The NBTA is an association of corporate business travel managers and news of Portland’s high tax came to my attention via Smith Travel Research, which is widely read by the lodging and travel industry. The City of Portland may want to consider moderating its tax rate on business travelers so as avoid being among the 5 highest in the list.
Posted by Bob Whelan | August 5, 2008 8:57 AM