Commissioner Steve Novick and Mayor Charlie Hales just announced they're scrapping half of their $43.8 million Portland Street Fund—a "compromise" residential income tax that was tweaked and tortured to win support from skeptics including the Portland Business Alliance but only earned, instead, deep opprobrium.

Instead of the tax they unveiled November 10, which had a cap of just $900 a year no matter how much someone earned and relied on awkward brackets instead of percentages, Novick and Hales now say they're looking to choose between a return to a user fee first proposed in the spring and a truly progressive income tax like the kind sought by street fund allies among transportation and poverty justice advocacy groups.

The income tax, as well as a refusal to send the package out for a public vote, earned the ire of the PBA and has petroleum lobbyist Paul Romain promising to refer the package to voters.

"The Portland Business Alliance and its allies would rather burn the city to the ground rather than adopt anything remotely resembling an income tax," a slightly bitter Novick said during a brief hearing in city hall this afternoon.

The hope is to air a new proposal by the end of the year, with a rare night hearing planned for either January 7 or 8. The $20.8 million business fee would join the revised income tax at that point. A final vote on both elements would follow January 14.

"We have not at this point resolved which of those directions we're going to go," Novick said.

A vote had already been tentatively pushed to January 7 earlier this month. The council last week added amendments exempting micro- and home-based businesses and formally added those amendments to the package right before Novick and Hales signaled they'd be changing course.

The timing of next month's hearing could be in flux up until tomorrow, however. The council's also considering a nighttime hearing on its involvement in the federal Joint Terrorism Task Force, something that could be pushed into February. Several major initiatives, like Airbnb restrictions, urban renewal changes, and police body cameras, have also been delayed from this month into January.

The call for a night meeting came from Commissioner Amanda Fritz and was enthusiastically seconded by Commissioner Nick Fish and then Novick.

Before closing his remarks, Novick one-upped a past reference to Casablanca—part of a spat he'd had with Fish over the street fund months before. This time, it was a nod to The Maltese Falcon and Sidney Greenstreet's portrayal of Kasper Gutman.

If he has to go to Istanbul for an income tax a rare statue, then so be it.