Library property tax shell game being played out to perfection
I see they've taken a poll that shows that the new Multnomah County library taxing district will pass handily. This is the district that's being set up supposedly so that the county commissioners can't de-fund the library and spend the money on foolishness like a Convention Center hotel.
So what will happen? A new taxing district will be formed, property taxes will increase to cover the library, and the money that used to be spent on the library can now be spent on the foolishness. Mission accomplished for Cogen & Co.
| Posted at 11:49 AM | Permalink |
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Comments (10)
Can anyone explain how exactly this measure will interact with compression?
Posted by kapstan | June 10, 2011 12:18 PM
So - the city continues its sole mission to funnel money into more places to house the homeless then?
Posted by Can't wait to leave PDX | June 10, 2011 12:23 PM
Typical. And highly suspect. The poll did not include any questions about the actual amount of money involved for the average or median homeowner. Same as the polling they did for the school bond.
Poll question A : Would you like a hot, delicious dinner delivered to your home every evening?
Poll question B : Would you like a hot, delicious dinner delivered to your home every evening for a cost of $75 per meal per night?
It's all in the phrasing.
Posted by Alice | June 10, 2011 1:04 PM
Jack, maybe if the message in your last paragraph becomes the "NO" campaign's main message, it won't pass. The overused "Color of Money" (COM) theory is overused. And now we have the "Form Another Tax System" (FATS) theory.
Posted by Lee | June 10, 2011 1:54 PM
Gosh, I had a flashback. In the play/movie "The Mouse That Roared", Count Mountjoy (my part), Prime Minister of the Duchy of Fenwick, comes running in shouting "The Russians are coming, the Russians are coming!!!". Now we have, "The Taxes are coming, the Taxes are Coming!!!"
Posted by Lee | June 10, 2011 2:12 PM
I thought the beef (from Sam Adams, at least) was that under compression adding the library to the tax base REDUCES the total amount of property taxes available for other "general government" purposes:
http://tinyurl.com/3qlr7aw
Posted by PMG | June 10, 2011 2:14 PM
I concur with the point of the post that it is unfortunate that a "library District" must be set up to preserve funding for libraries. However, unlike many of the Kindle packing creative class yuppies who dont use the Library I do. Please don't force me to buy all my books from Amazon. I like paper...
Posted by dean | June 10, 2011 2:16 PM
With no concrete proposal on the table yet (I don't think), it's hard to say what will happen with "compression." But if the district actually takes away play money for pet projects, it will never get on the ballot, much less passed. It's virtually guaranteed to have the effects of increasing taxes and freeing up dollars for Blumenauer bulls**t. That's all the people we elect care about.
Posted by Jack Bog | June 10, 2011 2:23 PM
Typical. And highly suspect. The poll did not include any questions about the actual amount of money involved for the average or median homeowner.
Did nobody learn from the Seattle Monorail?
Or, for that matter, "Marge versus the Monorail"?
Posted by Erik H. | June 10, 2011 7:34 PM
I'm feeling a little stupid here, but wasn't that the point of the LAST election?
Posted by Michelle | June 10, 2011 8:14 PM