- ILLUSTRATION BY FRANCOIS VIGNEAULT
After taking up an amendment this morning to their $40 million-plus "Portland Street Fund" proposal—along with more promised amendments next week—Hales says a vote on the package, meant to fund paving and transportation work, a final vote will now slip into January.
That kind of deliberate refinement, playing out in a series of public hearings, is a bit unusual and refreshing for the city council—where offline meetings often serve well for hashing out the fate of amendments and revisions. And already the city council has been accused of rushing into a proposal advocates and critics don't see as fully cooked—all without seeking approval of voters.
But for others, the continuing delays to make tweaks demanded by community members—a vote had been set, at various times for December 10 and December 17—are somehow yet more evidence the council is blundering around instead of trying to listen.
Today's amendment does two things: It will exempt home-based businesses that gross less than $50,000 annually and it will charge a $3 monthly base fee for all other small businesses who gross below that threshold. But it also comes with cost that changes one of the top lines of the proposal. The exemptions will cost $2.2 million in anticipated revenue, knocking the $46 million goal down to $43.8 million.
And that means the "street fund," split between an income tax and business fees, will no longer be evenly split between the two.
"It's a clumsy step, but it's a step in the right direction," economic consultant Eric Fruits—a leading foe of the street fee—allowed during his testimony in council today. Fruits also suggested that gross revenues don't take into account that some businesses, like convenience stores, might gross $1 million but still be seen as failing.
Last week, after the council approved a promise to vote anew on the plan in six years, I reported that two other amendments remain under consideration:
• Novick's working with Fritz to tweak the income tax—it's based on brackets that levy a flat amount for everyone in a given income range, and Fritz has suggested shifting to percentages for each range. That would alleviate a criticism that people at the top of a range, paying a flat amount, would pay a smaller percentage of their incomes than people at the bottom of a range. That also could lead to fewer brackets overall.
• Novick also says there's some discussion about making sure it's clear and written in stone that both sides of the street fund must not only survive a council vote this month, but also a likely ballot challenge by oil lobbyist Paul Romain and the Portland Business Alliance.
Both of those may yet emerge for discussion next Wednesday, December 17, when Hales and Novick are hoping to hold one final public hearing on the plan. The council today's also set to ask its revenue division later today to explore whether nonresidents who earn income in Portland might also be taxed.
An official vote could come as early as January 7. Of note, that means a likely effort by the Portland Business Alliance and Romain to refer the income tax and business fee to voters will no longer have to collect tens of thousands of signatures over the holidays. If a vote happens January 7, they'll have until February 7 to see how voters feel.
