Mark your calendars for Friday, Portlanders. That's when the empire builders out at the Port of Portland -- you know, the folks who build a themselves a new headquarters building every decade, whether they need it or not -- pass the property taxes that fuel a large part of their operation for another year. The ordinance they'll be enacting is here -- read it now, feel it when you get your property tax bill in the fall. If you're a renter, you won't get to see such a bill, but believe me, your landlord is passing it on to you, too.

Meanwhile, it looks as though the Federal Aviation Administration had a little bone to pick with the Port about spending airline taxes and fees on their new Shangri-La headquarters:

Operating Expenditures increased by $0.8 million due to: 1) A change to the methodology established to calculate and charge departments for their share of the Port’s new headquarters building capital and operating costs or "rent." The change is in follow up to the FAA’s review to insure the Port is in compliance with revenue diversion rules. 2) Revised projections for the administrative compensation program.

Anyway, Friday's the day to kiss some of your money goodbye. It's only $9 million -- you'll hardly feel a thing. And remember -- they're getting an eco-roof, so it's all good.