the Oregonian
City Commissioner Sam Adams has dropped his idea for a three cent city gas tax, instead he will ask the city Council to add a "street maintenance and safety fee" onto the water bills to a total of $4.54 a month for homeowners. (businesses will pay a different amount based on their size and traffic)
Of course for Portland, that would bring in an estimated $464 million over the next 15 years which would be used to re-pave old roads, add crosswalks [add bike paths?] fund other maintenance and safety.
State leaders have urged Adams to drop the tax proposal because they are hoping to raise transportation funds statewide in the 2009 legislative session with a significant gas tax increase (four cents) and other user fees, license and title fees.
Adams would like to see a $.12 a gallon increase, phased in in four cents increments in 2010, 2012, and 2014.
of course, little Portland, er... I mean Eugene, is still looking for ways to gouge us for street repairs in a 6-2 vote of sending a bond measure to the voters in May 2008.
The Register Guard
The bond measure would cost a medium value home about $109 a year for 10 years for an estimated $170 million.
Counselors George Poling and Mike Clark wanted to wait until November.
"The extra time would give us more time to increase the confidence level with the public." said Poling.
Clark said the city needs to show residents that it can spend money wisely before asking them for new taxes. “I believe we have some trust to earn back,"
Now that's an understatement
5 comments:
Good Luck!
First stop tearing up the good roads that are little used, such as the one between Skinner's Butte and the train station that they spent about 6 months on, and stop installing all those friggin speed bumps and obstructions then maybe we can talk about confidence.
You're so off base. First, we need to make sure nobody has to make rational decisions about whether or not to see a doctor. That's going to require free medical care for everybody.
Then, we need to worry about whether animals are being looked after. What happens if a disaster hits? Floods or a big storm? Will the animals be okay?
After that we need to make sure that all the illegal visitors to our state have licenses. How are the illegals going to get to work if they can't drive?
Then we need to stop investments in new "conventional" energy systems...you know, like hydro, nuclear, coal or LNG fired steam plants. And, while we're at it, we need to replace cars with bicycles. And wooden shoes for your leather brogues. And make sure that mothers are breast-feeding.
Oh, gosh, there's a million things we need to take care of before we worry about something as pedestrian as roads. Unless we find more funding sources, I'm afraid we won't be able to do much to address your concerns.
Sorry. But this is Oregon.
I think we need to replace ALL the 'public servants' with regular citizens instead of the career politicians we have. Until we do, TAX will be in every sentence.
Taxes are a necessary evil. If you want services you have to pay for them - pure and simple. Bravo Sam Adams!
Daniel, I agree that we need to pay for services that we use, but I think that you would also agree that there is a lot of waste in government.
In my opinion, sometimes I think that their priorities need some rethinking their
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